British Superbike veteran Michael Rutter has marmalised the Macau Grand Prix field in qualifying at the Guia circuit this morning, taking pole position by a staggering three seconds from fellow old stager John McGuinness on the SMT Honda and Ian Hutchinson grabbing a late third place but four seconds in arrears.
Rutter's last flying lap on the Rider's Ducati put him within spitting distance of Stuart Easton's lap record and extended his lead over McGuinness. The gap had been 2.5s but Rutter went round in 1'23.794 as the Morecambe man himself improved to a 1'26.951 in a session that had been postponed twice for bad weather.
Swan Yamaha's Ian Hutchinson, who is racing for the first time in more than a year, bagged third place on his R1 with his final circulation but is another second slower than McGuinness on a 2'27.911. It's confidence-inspiring for the Bingley man, as he is racing with a right-side gearshift because of the damage to his leg and subsequent surgeries.
Rutter's team-mate Martin Jessopp grabbed fourth with his final effort and just pipped Gary Johnson. The Lincolnshire man is riding Josh Brookes' TAS Suzuki and looks set for a place in the HM Plant Honda Superstock team next season.
American Jeremy Toye was the first of the Paul Bird Kawasakis home in sixth place but more a little under 4.5s off the pace while second septic Mike Barnes qualified his Attack Kawasaki one place behind and fourth tenths slower than the WSB-spec ZX-10R.
Scotsman Jimmy Storrar is eighth on the DNR BMW while Rico Penzkofer and Conor Cummins round out the top ten. Steve Mercer's put his Jentin-run entry in 11th and the ridiculously-moustached James Hillier is 12th on the Mocha Club Kawasaki. Bruce Anstey's Padgett's Honda is 13th while William Dunlop narrowly beat brother Michael to 15th. Stephen Thompson is 18th, James McBride 19th and Paul Shoesmith 23rd.
According to the piece of paper we have got, there should be a slot for the race at 13.45 local tomorrow but it all now depends on the weather...
2011 Macau GP qualifying practice - conditions dry
1 2 Michael RUTTER GBR RidersMotorcycles.com 2:23.794 15 153.21
2 4 John MCGUINNESS GBR Roadhouse SMT Honda 2:26.951 16 3.157 149.92
3 7 Ian HUTCHINSON GBR Swan Yamaha 2:27.911 15 4.117 148.95
4 40 Martin JESSOPP GBR RidersMotorcycles.com 2:27.991 16 4.197 148.87
5 69 Gary JOHNSON GBR IGT Suzuki by TAS 2:28.014 13 4.220 148.85
6 57 Jeremy TOYE USA IGT Kawasaki Racing Team 2:28.213 16 4.419 148.65
7 34 Michael BARNES USA Attack Performance Kawasaki 2:28.642 10 4.848 148.22
8 15 James STORRAR GBR IseeMacau.com BMW by DMR 2:28.979 13 5.185 147.88
9 13 Rico PENZKOFER GER Penz13.com 2:29.260 14 5.466 147.60
10 8 Conor CUMMINS GBR IGT Kawasaki Racing Team 2:29.683 14 5.889 147.19
11 17 Steve MERCER GBR Jentin Racing 2:29.952 18 6.158 146.92
12 37 James HILLIER GBR Mocha Club Bournemouth Kawasaki 2:30.255 16 6.461 146.63
13 5 Bruce ANSTEY NZL Padgettsmotorcycles.com 2:30.341 16 6.547 146.54
14 12 Horst SAIGER AUT Penz13.com 2:31.505 16 7.711 145.42
15 6 William DUNLOP GBR Wilson Craig Racing 2:32.079 17 8.285 144.87
16 3 Michael DUNLOP GBR IGT Kawasaki Racing Team 2:32.086 17 8.292 144.86
17 26 Didier GRAMS GER Heidger-RTG-Suzuki Muller 2:32.508 14 8.714 144.46
18 11 Stephen THOMPSON GBR Roadhouse T & R Motorsport 2:32.946 16 9.152 144.05
19 9 James MCBRIDE GBR PB Motorsport 2:33.928 15 10.134 143.13
20 10 Mark MILLER USA Splitlath Motorsport 2:34.123 18 10.329 142.95
21 22 Chris CLARK USA Yes-Pcs-Graves Yamaha 2:34.955 16 11.161 142.18
22 20 Sean DWYER USA Locust-Lee's Cycle 2:35.229 17 11.435 141.93
23 99 Paul SHOESMITH GBR PB Motorsport 2:35.669 17 11.875 141.53
24 23 Michal DOKOUPIL CZE IseeMacau.com BMW by DMR 2:36.495 19 12.701 140.78
Qualification Maxima 2:38.173
32 Joao FERNANDES MAC Team of Paris 2:40.129 16 16.335 137.58
77 Nuno CAETANO POR HM Racing Team 2:41.799 13 18.005 136.16
18 SOU Sio Hong MAC SOU Sio Hong 2:43.518 18 19.724 134.73
