Easton, on the Hydrex IGT Honda 1000 he has raced so successfully in Britain all season was ultra-cautious in the morning free practice concerned with the dusty condition of the track, but eight hours later, he was in supreme form and his rivals could not match his pace.

Rutter, the 36-year-old from Leicestershire, was racing a Kawasaki 1000 for the Team of Paris-AXA racing squad for the first time but, despite his lack of practice on the machine, looked confident after being fastest in the morning session.

It was a good day for Kawasaki, with four machines on the top six.

Ian Hutchinson (PBM Kawasaki WSBK Team), the 30-year-old Yorkshireman was third fastest, half a second behind Rutter, and 23-year-old Manxman Conor Cummins on the second Paul Bird Motors machine a quarter of a second slower in fourth place.

Veteran American Mike Barnes, on the third PBM Kawasaki WSBK Team machine was sixth fastest, a fifth of a second behind one of the sensations of the day, Rico Penzkofer on a factory BMW, a machine racing in Macau for the very first time.

Tiago Magalhaes, the 25-year-old Portuguese racer was fastest in the Supersport 600 Class on the AG Racing Suzuki, two seconds quicker than local racer Joao Fernandes (Cubic Macau Racing Team Yamaha).

Amaury Baratin (Team of Paris-AXA Racing Triumph 675), the 36-year-old Frenchman was third best in the Supersport Class.

The final qualifying session for Saturday’s 43rd running of the 15-lap race is tomorrow (Friday).