Motoracer left red faced after celebrating early with the finish line in sight before coming THIRD

This is the mortifying moment a motorcycle racer gets pipped to the finish line – after relaxing and celebrating victory too early.

Andre Verissimo took his hand off the throttle and stood up to savour what he mistakenly thought would be a memorable win as he rounded the final bend.

But two other competitors were following close behind at the race track in the central Brazilian city of Goiana, called the Autodromo Internacional Ayrton Senna.

Andre Verissimo stands up on his bike with the finish line in his sights at Superbike Brazil 

But the racer looks behind him to see his rivals and closing in on him at some speed 

Verissimo is stunned after he failed to win the race and did not even manage to come second  

Verissimo had to make do with third place as rivals Osvaldo Filho and Marcelo Skaf went by him in the final seconds of the Superbike Brazil race.

The gaffe occurred on the eighth and last race of the championship.

Footage of the remarkable incident showed Verissimo looking behind him after going round the final bend with a comfortable margin over his rivals and then standing up on his bike and raising his arms in the air.

The second time he turned round to double-check on the men behind him, he obviously realised he had made a grave miscalculation and got immediately back into race mode by sitting back down again on his motorbike and accelerating as fast as he could.

He curses his luck by punching the air in frustration after watching his rival steal the victory

Winning driver Marcelo Skaf cannot believe his luck after the race looked as if it was finished 

But it wasn’t enough to maintain his first place and he was left punching the air again with his arms, but this time in frustration as his schoolboy error sunk in.

Journalist Hugo Hernandez rubbed salt in Verissimo’s wounds by saying: ‘Sometimes it’s crystal clear when it comes to defining these situations.

‘Confident? No. A player? No. Imbecile? Yes.’

Another racing fan added: ‘The idiot of the year.’

There was no immediate comment from the Brazilian motorcycle racer, who despite having to settle for third on the podium on the day was overall championship winner in the EVO category with his average over eight races.