Worx Suzuki’s Michael Rutter weekend has got off to a good start as he stands in for the injured Sylvain Guintoli at the fourth round of the British Superbike Championship at Thruxton.
Rutter was sixth overall after his first practice session on the GSX-R1000 setting a time of 1’17.304s.  The Brierley Hill rider took another half a second off his time in this afternoon’s practice session putting him eighth, only half a second less than second place man Stuart Easton.
Team boss Jack Valentine said: “It is early days, in the first session we were sixth, I was hoping Michael would be around there as that obviously says he is happy with the bike.
“We haven’t any data to compare to, no testing and Michael hasn’t ridden a Suzuki before. He got two podiums here last year, he likes the circuit. So far so good, we will work towards third practice and aim to be in the same sort of position.  We will up our game, but so will everybody else.”
After his abrupt departure from North West 200 Coca Cola Zero there is no doubt in how Rutter has taken to the change of manufacturer. Valentine said: “We will only be making small suspension changes, maybe just stiffen it a little, but nothing major. This morning we did race distance on the same set of tyres, that went ok, we may try a different compound.”
A decision is still to be made after the weekend regarding a permanent replacement rider. “Obviously if he does well, not to put any pressure on him, but I would have to look at Michael,” Valentine added.