Englishman Michael Rutter poses with six bottles of bubbly, symbolising what he hopes will be a record-equalling sixth victory in the Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix today.
The 32-year-old British racer is on target to match compatriot Ron Haslam's half dozen titles after he was handed the pole position for today's 15-lap race almost by default after organisers scrapped yesterday's final qualifying session. The accident-marred qualifying session for the World Touring Car Championship saw the subsequent Motorcycle Grand Prix qualifying session cancelled and turned into a practice run. The grid for today's race was decided on Thursday's first qualifying session - where Rutter clocked the best time.
'It is a bit of a disappointment that we couldn't have a qualifying session today, but luckily I had a good ride in my final lap yesterday,' said Rutter, who chopped off almost five seconds on his final lap in qualifying. Rutter, who is riding a Red Bull Honda 1000cc superbike, has won the race the past three years. 'It will be nice if I can get my sixth win here. But a lot will depend on these gentlemen,' said Rutter at yesterday's press conference, pointing to Thomas Hinterreiter and John McGuinness, who are second and third on the grid.
