Rutter takes seventh win and breaks Haslam record

Michael Rutter made Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix history today by taking a seventh victory on the famous Guia street circuit, bettering the existing record he had shared with fellow legend Ron Haslam since 2005.

Second was Rutter’s team mate Martin Jessopp, with Ian Hutchinson on the Swan Yamaha 1000 making a remarkable return to competition by taking third for an all-British podium. American Jeremy Toye was fourth with the IGT Kawasaki Racing Team.

Rutter, aboard the RidersMotorcycles.com Ducati 1200 proved why he is the greatest rider the event has ever known in the 10-lap race, winning by a margin of 4.772 seconds and setting the fastest lap of the race.

Although Rutter had the advantage of pole position, it was Hutchinson who stormed off the grid and into the lead off the start, followed by Rutter, John McGuinness on the Roadhouse SMT Honda 1000 and Jessopp. McGuinness got by Rutter in the run down to Lisboa, with Jessopp following suit.

While Hutchinson set about pulling away from the pack, Jessopp, McGuinness and Rutter were engaged in a three-way battle, with McGuinness dropping back to fourth by the end of the second lap. Rutter was on a charge though, and up to second a lap later having passed Jessopp at Lisboa, and taking the charge to the race leader.

Closing up to Hutchinson on lap 4, Rutter made his move at Lisboa to take the lead. As Rutter set about putting some track between him and his rivals, Jessopp passed Hutchinson to go second.

To rapturous cheers from the Macau crowds, Rutter crossed the line to take the flag and etch his name in the Grand Prix history books once again. However, it was team mate Jessopp who Rutter praised at the post-race press conference, after light-heartedly assuring the assembled media his first call would be to Ron Haslam: “Martin has been there all year – he’s come along and learned a lot. It’s been a brilliant season.”

Jessopp was equally delighted to be sharing the podium with two great names: “The last two years I’ve been learning from Michael. I hit the wall pretty hard on lap 1, so I settled down after that. I think Michael was playing with us for the first couple of laps.”

For Hutchison, who this time last year was in intensive care after an accident in the UK, it was great to be back racing. He was also full of praise for the organisation’s decision to reschedule the races following bad weather on Saturday: “It was a great decision by the organisers to keep everyone safe,” he said.


2011 Macau Grand Prix - Dry Conditions

1 2 Michael RUTTER GBR RidersMotorcycles.com 24:32.817 10 149.59
2 40 Martin JESSOPP GBR RidersMotorcycles.com 24:37.589 10 4.772 149.10
3 7 Ian HUTCHINSON GBR Swan Yamaha 24:39.664 10 6.847 148.89
4 57 Jeremy TOYE USA IGT Kawasaki Racing Team 24:42.491 10 9.674 148.61
5 69 Gary JOHNSON GBR IGT Suzuki by TAS 24:46.930 10 14.113 148.17
6 4 John MCGUINNESS GBR Roadhouse SMT Honda 24:47.131 10 14.314 148.15
7 15 James STORRAR GBR IseeMacau.com BMW by DMR 25:04.866 10 32.049 146.40
8 34 Michael BARNES USA Attack Performance Kawasaki 25:09.711 10 36.894 145.93
9 5 Bruce ANSTEY NZL Padgettsmotorcycles.com 25:12.201 10 39.384 145.69
10 17 Steve MERCER GBR Jentin Racing 25:14.530 10 41.713 145.47
11 37 James HILLIER GBR Mocha Club Bournemouth Kawasaki 25:16.160 10 43.343 145.31
12 3 Michael DUNLOP GBR IGT Kawasaki Racing Team 25:24.906 10 52.089 144.48
13 6 William DUNLOP GBR Wilson Craig Racing 25:37.868 10 1:05.051 143.26
14 26 Didier GRAMS GER Heidger-RTG-Suzuki Muller 25:41.860 10 1:09.043 142.89
15 20 Sean DWYER USA Locust-Lee's Cycle 25:43.885 10 1:11.068 142.70
16 11 Stephen THOMPSON GBR Roadhouse T & R Motorsport 25:46.603 10 1:13.786 142.45
17 99 Paul SHOESMITH GBR PB Motorsport 25:46.981 10 1:14.164 142.41
18 10 Mark MILLER USA Splitlath Motorsport 25:53.128 10 1:20.311 141.85
19 9 James MCBRIDE GBR PB Motorsport 26:17.638 10 1:44.821 139.65
20 23 Michal DOKOUPIL CZE IseeMacau.com BMW by DMR 26:37.148 10 2:04.331 137.94
Not Classified
22 Chris CLARK USA Yes-Pcs-Graves Yamaha 22:06.234 8 D.N.F. 132.90
12 Horst SAIGER AUT Penz13.com 3:11.002 1 D.N.F. 115.35