Michael Rutter has taken pole position for the Superbike races at the North West 200 after Thursday’s final qualifying session was cut short due to John McGuinness crashing out at Primrose Corner. The red flags quickly came out with the Honda Racing rider said to be sitting up and conscious but having sustained a suspected broken leg.
With twenty minutes of the session still remaining, time constraints meant it wasn’t restarted and Rutter’s lap of 122.345mph on the Bathams/SMT Racing BMW saw him leap above Alastair Seeley’s quickest time from Tuesday.
“I am really happy with that lap today,” the 45-year-old said. “There was a lot more grip today because the track was a lot cleaner than on Tuesday so I just went out and just tried to keep my head down and get a good lap in. When you do that around here you never know what will happen.”
The Tyco BMW rider held onto second place but Glenn Irwin quickened his pace considerably and a lap of 121.556mph enabled him to jump up the leaderboard from fifth to third and thus complete the front row on the Be Wiser Ducati.
Martin Jessopp also improved, a lap of 121.311mph enabling the Riders Motorcycles BMW rider to move from sixth to fourth with Michael Dunlop slipping back to fifth. He actually went quicker on Thursday, at 121.510mph, but having only completed one qualifying lap, his time from Tuesday has determined his starting position.
Peter Hickman completes the second row on the Smiths Racing BMW with a speed of 119.842mph.
Further back, Ian Hutchinson will line up in seventh on the second Tyco BMW with William Dunlop (Temple Golf and Country Club Yamaha) and James Hillier (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) alongside him on row three.
Lee Johnston (Jackson Racing Honda), Dean Harrison (Silicone Engineering Kawasaki) and Derek Sheils (Cookstown BE Racing Suzuki) occupy the fourth row with Guy Martin on the second Honda Racing machine in 19th.
