Features 16 Feb 2010

Moto Talk with Andrew Pitt

MotoOnline.com.au catches up with Andrew Pitt to get the scoop on the Reitwagen BMW World Superbike team.

Pitt has been testing the impressive BMW S 1000 RR at Phillip Island. Image: Steve Duggan - sdpics.com.

Pitt has been testing the impressive BMW S 1000 RR at Phillip Island. Image: Steve Duggan - sdpics.com.

Double Supersport World Champion Andrew Pitt will take on a new project for season 2010, leading the Reitwagen BMW team on the S 1000 RR in a satellite role.

Pitt was world champion in 2001 and 2008, suffering a frustrating season last year with Ten Kate Honda in his title defence.

This isn’t the first time Pitt will contest WSBK, riding for the factory Yamaha team previously and picking up a race victory during 2006 at Misano and placing fifth in the world standings.

This year will mark a return to Superbike for 33-year-old Pitt, who has also raced in MotoGP sporadically, with development of the BMW at the key to his success this season.

MotoOnline.com.au tracked down Pitt at today’s Phillip Island Ride Day to find out how things are looking just weeks out from the official season opener on 26-28 February.

It’s a new year, you’re on a new bike with BMW, and you’ve stepped up to the Superbikes again. You must be looking forward to the season opener at Phillip Island next week?

Yeah, it’s always great to be racing at Phillip Island, for sure. It’s great to be back on the Superbike, we’ve got the new S 1000 RR from BMW, and we’re in a new team. We’ve still got a lot of work to do, to be honest it would have been nice to have the Island a little later in the season because we do have a lot of development to do. It would have been nice to race once we have it sorted for the home race, but it is what it is. Each time we go out on the bike we’re learning something new, so we just have to go out and do what we can at the first round and try keep going forward from there.

You first showed up on the BMW at an Eastern Creek Ride Day and then have been popping up at more since then, but how is this new race bike going now that you’re on it?

They sent us out a road bike and my teammate Roland Resch has also been out here, basically so we could do a bit of riding and to help him learn the track over here. This is the first time that we’ve got our hands on the race bike, but the only opportunity we’ve had to get it on track was at the ride day here. As tough as it is out there with the traffic, we’re still getting laps done, still getting our head around it and we’re able to sort out the basics such as foot pegs and handlebars to see how the bike’s reacting. It’s not a complete waste of time.

You’re in a brand new team with Reitwagen, riding the new S 1000 RR, so how much of a development role are you taking for this season?

Well I think that’s why they brought me on board, trying to get it going in the right direction. There are four BMWs out there now, so that’s got to help the whole project. Having more bikes out there is going to speed the whole process up, because they’ve produced a top road bike and now they want that same success on the race track. Hopefully together with Troy [Corser], Ruben [Xaus] and Roland, we can work hard to get it up the front a little bit faster.

And how is the S 1000 RR – have you settled into it good so far?

Yeah, it’s been good, you know. With a new bike you’re trying to sort a lot of stuff, trying different seating positions and all that, but it was good straight away when we got on the standard bike. It’s a fast bike, the speed of it surprised me, and even faster with a bit of mapping and a race pipe. It’s really impressive in a straight line, but as you know that’s not everything. We’ve got to get it around the track and get all that power to the ground as far as traction goes. We’ve got a long way to go, but you know, the basics are there and we need to keep going forward without getting lost.

How close is your team with the official BMW Motorrad Motorsport team?

The bikes are built in the same work shop, but at the moment we’re behind in the engine spec and stuff like that. By the second or third race we should be right there – I suppose it’s in BMW’s best interests to have all the bikes competitive and on par with the other guys. So yeah, our bike is more standard than theirs, we have more standard chassis parts like the swingarm, pretty much standard fuel tank and rider position. Those guys have changed all of that stuff, but we are starting off from a standard point of view and then from here’s we’ll change the next things we need to change.

You’ve also got fellow Australian Peter Goddard working with you on the Ohlins suspension…

Yeah, that was a big part of me wanting to join the team once I found out that Pete was involved. There are a lot of great guys in the team and I’m confident that as a group we can get it on the pace – the team is critical in a new project from the ground up like this. Everything is there, we just have to get more laps and learn as we go I suppose.

Final question, what will you be satisfied with for season 2010?

It’s very much a two-year project that we are working on and that’s the way we’re looking at it, but I think if we were able to finish in the top 10 for the championship it would be a pretty reasonable result. Hopefully by the mid-season and toward the end we can be challenging for the podium every weekend. I suppose that’s everybody’s goal out there, but you have to set your goals high and that’s where we’re aiming. Like I said, overall if we can finish in the top 10 overall then it would be an alright job first time out.

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