Isle of Man TT winner Michael Rutter hopes to add even more Macau Grand Prix victories after taking a stunning eighth win at the 2012 running of the street race.
Riding for the Jezac SMT Honda team, he dominated the weekend taking the flag at the end of the 10 lap race five seconds ahead of nearest rival Martin Jessopp.
Rutter said:
“I'm over the moon to have gone into the record books again with win number eight.”
“I really enjoy coming here and hope I can continue for a few more years yet.”
Rutter was third in the opening practice session, but was soon up to speed and putting in good times to top every session for the rest of the week.
The first qualifying session was cut short after only 10 minutes due to the crash which claimed the life of fellow TT racer Luis Carreira. The remaining sessions were also hindered with wet weather and delays, but Rutter still continued to dominate the time sheets and qualified on pole.
The race on Saturday was postponed due to poor weather, eventually taking place on Sunday at 8.15am UK time.
Rutter got off the line well and passed Gary Johnson to take the lead by the end of the first lap and start pulling a gap over the rest of the pack. Jessopp was soon putting in fastest race laps and was bridging the gap, but as soon as Rutter was signalled this information he upped his game and managed to win the race by 4.9 seconds, with third place man Simon Andrews, another TT rider, 11.2 seconds back on the winner.
Rutter said:
“Firstly I must pass on my thoughts and condolences to the family and friends of Luis Carreira who we sadly lost in the first qualifying session. It marred the rest of the week, but as we all know in racing we have to keep strong and carry on.”
“It was a mixed week with accidents and also weather problems that seemed to put delays on everything. It's hard to keep focused and in the zone when session are cancelled or postponed. The week seemed a long one as the other sessions were delayed after darkness fell and then the race delayed due to wet weather.”
He added:
“I’m really pleased however, with how everything went on the Jezac SMT Honda, everyone worked really well together and despite not riding a Honda for a few years everything felt good from the off. We took it steady on the first session and just tried to find our feet get a good set up on the bike and ready for the remaining session over the three days.”
“Once everything was working right I got my head down and wanted to put in some good lap times from the start. I was able to be consistent through both qualifying and practice and was able to set pole position. I was once again fastest in warm-up and really looking forward to getting out there and race the Jezac SMT Honda.”
“I got a bit of a bad start and Gary (Johnson) shot out the blocks, but I needed to make sure I got past him early on. I got through and got my head down, I noticed Martin (Jessopp) was catching me and I just wanted to remain at the front and focussed on the job in hand, I could see the gap was going back up and just stayed with that pace for the rest of the race.”
Rutter concluded:
“I’d like to thank all my loyal sponsors for supporting me this year through a tough season and I'm glad I've been able to end the season on a high and repay them for everything they have done for me.”
“Now I'm looking at finalising my plans for 2013 and hope to be able to announce something soon.”