Pitt a hit with Kawasaki after 'remarkable' debut.

Australian Andrew Pitt, World Supersport champion in 2001, made a more than promising - if unexpected - GP debut at Sepang in Malaysia today, with his first ever outing on the brand new Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR.

Not unexpectedly, the young rider was placed at the back of the grid - but significantly he cut 2.5 seconds off his lap time from the morning to the afternoon session, and was comfortably inside the qualifying time for his first GP.

"I watched the Motegi Grand Prix on television and I thought the bike was a bit of a handful," began the amiable Aussie. "But when I went out for my first laps this morning, I was very surprised how user-friendly it was, not wild at all, and with a smooth power delivery throughout the power band."

One area that Pitt did find difficult was the switch from carburettor to the MotoGP machines computer controlled fuel injection system, while the new brakes also proved a revelation.

"On the initial part of the throttle opening, the fuel injection system feels a bit rougher than the carburettors," explained Pitt. "It took me only about one lap to get familiar with the carbon brakes that I'd never used before, and from that point on, it was just a matter of gaining track knowledge and experience with the bike."

Turning to the session itself, Pitt's massive time improvement was mostly due to him familiarising with the track, rather than ground breaking set-up changes.

"We didn't change much on the bike, just minor modifications to make it steer a little easier, and I still got faster lap by lap and improved by 2.5 seconds from the morning to the afternoon.

"It's definitely good to ride a bike that powerful, and it's amazing to still feel it pushing ahead in top gear at the end of the straight," said the wide eyed #84 pilot. "Tomorrow, I'll just try to improve further and to take another couple of seconds off my time!"

Team Manager Harald Eckl, who ran Pitt in the World Supersport championship this year, praised his rider's efforts for far: "Andrew has never been on this track, he has never had carbon brakes, he hasn't been on slick tyres, hasn't had a fuel injection, and is confronted with 80 more horsepower than the Supersport machine he rode all year long. Therefore, his progress is remarkable.

"It was easy to see how he was getting out of the corners better and better towards the end of the first qualifying session, and I have no doubt that he will be able to close the gap to the others tomorrow," concluded Eckl.

Pitt is strongly tipped to land a full time ride on the MotoGP racer next season.