1 Michael RUTTER GBR SMT Racing Honda 1000

2 John McGUINNESS GBR SMT Racing Honda 1000

4 Conor CUMMINS IOM Tyco Suzuki Suzuki 1000

5 Gary JOHNSON GBR Quattro Plant Motorsports Honda 1000

8 Horst SAIGER AUT Saiger-Racing.com Kawasaki 1000

9 James McBRIDE GBR DMR BMW 1000

10 Mark MILLER USA Splitlath Redmond Aprilia 1000

11 Stephen THOMPSON GBR T & R Motorsport BMW 1000

12 Steve MERCER GBR T & R Motorsport Honda 1000

13 Rico PENZKOFER GER Penz 13 BMW 1000

14 Nuno CAETANO POR KS Team of Portugal Suzuki 1000

15 James STORRAR GBR DMR BMW 1000

16 Stefano BONETTI ITA Speed Motor Kawasaki 1000

17 Simon ANDREWS GBR Ice Valley by Motorsave Trade BMW 1000

18 SOU Sio Hong MAC SOU Sio Hong Honda 1000

20 David JOHNSON AUS Splitlath Redmond Aprilia 1000

26 Didier GRAMS GER German Team Heidger W&G Motorsport BMW 1000

27 Fernando COSTA POR Pon Pone Squadra Ducati 1200

32 Joao FERNANDES MAC Penz 13 BMW 1000

33 Luis CARREIRA POR Benimoto/Rider/Cetelem Suzuki 1000

37 James HILLIER GBR Bournemouth Kawasaki Racing Kawasaki 1000

40 Martin JESSOPP GBR Rider’s Motorcycles.com Ducati 1200

44 Jamie HAMILTON GBR RPM Performance Kawasaki 1000

47 Brandon CRETU USA Hel Performance Honda 1000

54 Steve HENEGHAN IRL Quattro Plant Motorsports Kawasaki 1000

55 Dan KNEEN IOM Marks Bloom Racing Suzuki 1000

66 Branko SRDANOV NED Ice Valley by Motorsave Trade BMW 1000

71 Davy MORGAN GBR CSC Racing Suzuki 1000

74 Yoshinari MATSUSHITA JPN Penz 13 BMW 1000

84 Lee JOHNSTON GBR RPM Performance Ducati 1200

113 Rafael PASCHOALIN BRA TT Brazilian Team BMW 1000


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Seven-time Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix winner Michael Rutter topped the time sheets in the first of two qualifying sessions for this weekend’s 46th running of the event. The SMT Racing rider set the quickest lap with a time of 2:28.326 on his Honda 1000 machine in the shortened session, more than 1.5 seconds faster than closest challenger, Martin Jessopp on the Riders Motocycles.com Ducati.

Rutter’s team mate John McGuinness was third fastest in the session, followed by Gary Johnson on the Quattro Plant Motorsports Honda.

The session was halted after an incident involving Portuguese rider Luis Carreira and was not restarted.

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The Macau Grand Prix Committee regrets to announce that Luis Filipe de Sousa Carreira, competitor no. 33, from Portugal, in the Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix – 46th edition, has succumbed to injuries sustained in a racing accident during the qualifying session this afternoon.

No other rider was involved in the incident, which occurred at Fisherman’s Bend at 15.58. The qualifying session was immediately red flagged.

The medical services, a fast intervention vehicle, fully equipped, and an ambulance with two doctors in attendance, which were located at the side of the accident immediately went to the rider’s aid, and as a result of the doctors’ diagnosis, Mr. Carreira was immediately evacuated by ambulance to the Hospital, where he was admitted at 16.08.

Continuous CPR was performed, however he succumbed to his injuries at 16.28.

The Macau Grand Prix Committee has contacted the family and the members of the team, and the Committee expresses its sincere condolences.

The qualifying session was abandoned at 16.30.

November 15th , 2012

Macau Grand Prix Committee

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Road racing is mourning the death of Portuguese rider Luis Carreira who was killed in a crash during qualifying at the Macau Grand Prix in Southern China on Thursday.

The 35-year-old was an experienced competitor who previously competed at both the North West 200 and Isle of Man TT.

He was involved in an incident at Fisherman’s Bend and and later succumbed to his injuries.

Mr Carreira rode for Northern Ireland’s CD Racing team in 2011, earning his best ever result at the TT, where he finished 13th in the Superstock event.

He also finished 11th in the Supersport class at the North West 200 in his debut at the event during the same year, which was wiped out by torrential rain and an oil spill.

Tributes have poured in following the tragedy, with 19-times TT winner John McGuinness expressing his sympathy on social networking microsite Twitter.

Yorkshire’s Ian Hutchinson also paid tribute to the fallen rider on Twitter, saying: “Very sad news of the passing of luis carreira... My thoughts go out to his family and friends.”

Tyco Suzuki ace Conor Cummins added: “RIP Luis. Shocked to hear the news. God speed.”

Mr Carreira was riding a Suzuki GSXR-1000 for the Benimoto Raider-Cetelem team.

He had been a regular at Macau since 2004, achieving his best result of fourth in 2008.

Fellow Portuguese competitor Nuno Caetano has withdrawn from the event following the tragedy.

Michael Rutter, who is chasing a record eighth victory at Macau on Saturday, is on provisional pole position following the shortened first qualifying session.

The SMT Honda rider was 1.6s ahead of Martin Jessopp on the Riders Ducati with John McGuinness on the second SMT Honda machine third, a further second in arrears.

Stephen Thompson was the leading Northern Ireland rider in 12th place on the T&R Motorsport BMW, with newcomer Jamie Hamilton missing out on the session following a minor crash.

Reports suggest fellow rookie Lee Johnston has been ruled out of the event with a blown engine on his Ducati.

Saintfield man Davy Morgan is also competing at Macau.


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Michael Rutter rode his SMT Racing Honda to a faultless pole position for the Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix – 46th Edition today, topping the second of the weekend's qualifying sessions as relentlessly as he had the first.

He ended the session just two tenths of a second clear of his nearest rival, team-mate John McGuinness. Another hugely experienced Macau racer, McGuinness was the only rider to present Rutter with a serious challenge in this session, and the only other rider to top the leaderboard in the 20 minutes the bikes were on track.

Third spot goes to 27-year-old Martin Jessop on the Riders' Motorcycles Ducati, and though the gap between him and second-placed McGuinness was 1.7 seconds, Jessop is likely to be a strong challenger in tomorrow's race. He finished second here last year behind Rutter, and this is his fourth visit to the 6.1km Guia Circuit.

There are plenty of other names to watch for when the grid forms up on Saturday, but the form-book insists all eyes will be on one man on the front row.

It is Rutter's eighth pole at Macau, and though he hasn't won from there each time, it's the kind of omen that may easily prey on the minds of his rivals. When the 46th Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix gets under way tomorrow afternoon, Rutter will be looking to add his eighth win to an already illustrious CV.

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Michael Rutter made history again in Macau with a masterclass display which gave the 40-year-old a record-setting eighth victory on the 6.2km Guia circuit against a strong field of more than 20 riders.

The win meant Rutter's domination of the weekend was almost total, his name on top of every time-sheet bar one ending with a late afternoon victory which had never seemed to be in doubt since he rode out to first practice at 7.30am on Thursday morning on his SMT Honda.

His race was hallmarked by a fast start that never really saw him challenged until half-distance, when Martin Jessop recovered from a poor start to fight his way back to second spot, going from fourth to second in a single lap.

But Rutter was already too far ahead to catch, and though Jessop used the power of the Riders' Motorcycles Ducati to full advantage on the long fast straights from the Melco Hairpin to Lisboa, Rutter's mastery of the technical and challenging middle sector of the circuit won back more than he'd given away on the high-speed runs and he eased away from Jessop on every lap until the last, when he cruised home to an effortless win.

Simon Andrews claimed a strong third after some very racy laps early on, his best result in four visits to the Macau Grand Prix, provoking exuberant celebrations in pitlane from the Ice Valley BMW team.

Said Rutter after his lucky eighth victory: “The team gave me a brilliant bike. The crowds have been fantastic. I enjoy coming here and hope it will keep continuing.”

Rutter’s team, SMT Racing which also entered John McGuinness, were the first winners of the new Team’s Award.


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