'It's brilliant to win here, it ranks right up there with the best I have ever
ENGLISHMAN Mike Rutter shed the frustration of four previously unsuccessful attempts to win the Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix with an imperious performance in yesterday's 32nd renewal of the event.
Not only did the 25-year-old leave his 37 rivals floundering, he also claimed the mantle of being the fastest rider to navigate around the 6.1-kilometre street circuit on two wheels with a dazzling time of two minutes and 30.869 seconds.
He beat home Honda Britain teammate Ian Simpson on an identical 750cc RC45 by a whopping 6.2 seconds, with Team Millar Honda 500cc rider John McGuinness coming in for third place on the 14th and final lap after German Gerhard Lindner threw away a podium finish when he overshot at Lisboa Bend on the last lap aboard his Motorrad Action Team Suzuki GSX 750cc.
Rutter signalled his superiority in qualifying on Friday when he produced the fastest lap seen on the circuit, 2:32.547, more than 1.5 seconds clear of Macau veteran Roger Bennett on a Harris Performance Suzuki 750cc.
'It's brilliant to win here, it ranks right up there with the best I have ever achieved and to set a lap record is just fantastic,' said Rutter.
'Honestly, I didn't think it was possible to go that quick. I thought a time in the high 31s was possible but the high 30s is unbelievable.' Rutter's race can be simply described as faultless. He was smooth as silk off the mark after officials ordered a restart and reduced the race to 14 laps when Japanese rider Mamoru Yamakawa stalled his Kawasaki 750cc on the grid.
By the end of the first lap, he had opened up a cushion of 1.2 seconds over Simpson, who responded on lap two with a time of 2:32.797, a record which would stand for only another six laps.
The previous record was held by Mike Edwards, who clocked a 2:33.073 in the 1996 race astride a Yamaha 500cc.
Simpson stalked Rutter until the eighth lap when he put the race out of reach.
He turned a half-second buffer into a 3.9-second lead by the end of lap eight and steadily built on it the rest of the way.
'Ian's no novice and I knew he would be there all the way so I knew I had to pull out a quick lap to try and build a gap. I felt really smooth and when I looked around for him [after the record lap] he wasn't there,' Rutter explained.
Simpson was fortunate to retain second place after Lindner, a newcomer to the circuit, mounted a furious late charge.
The 35-year-old journalist was making his own headlines as early as lap 10 when he peeled off a time of 2:32.807 and then timed 2:31.801 on lap 13 to close to within two-tenths of a second of Simpson.
Clearly on the limit, Lindner took Simpson under brakes approaching the 90-degree right-hand bend at Lisboa and overshot into the run-off area.
Simpson admitted he lost concentration during the race which let Lindner close the gap.
'I knew he was coming - I was getting signals [from the pits] so I was waiting for him to try and outbrake me into Lisboa,' he said.
'I left my braking to the very last moment and hoped he would try and come down the outside and he did . . . and [he] ran off.' It turned out to be all or nothing for Lindner, who failed to finish the race.
McGuinness completed a clean sweep of the top positions for British riders and was delighted at his debut performance.
'I really concentrated on getting away to a good start and then settled into a rhythm.
'To finish third behind these guys is great,' said 25-year-old McGuinness.
For the first time, the organisers included a 600cc class race within the main event and it was a triumph for Portuguese rider Rui Regigoto astride his Kawasaki Galp Moto Action 600cc.
He won the class from Englishman Paul Brown on a Honda CBR and German Markus Barth, also on a Honda. They finished 13th, 14th and 15th respectively.
