Michael Rutter (motorcycle racer)

Michael Rutter

Michael Rutter riding a Crescent Suzuki during the 2009 BSB at Snetterton
Nationality British
Born (1972-04-18) 18 April 1972
Wordsley. West Midlands

Michael Karl Rutter (born 18 April 1972 in Wordsley, West Midlands) nicknamed "The Blade", is a British motorcycle racer. He has a reputation for being at his best in wet conditions and his favourite circuit is Oulton Park. He has won 29 British Superbike Championship races, most recently at Silverstone in 2010, and finished as series runner-up twice. He has also contested MotoGP and World Superbike Championship events.

During 2015, Rutter was a temporary replacement rider for Gearlink Kawasaki in BSB,[1] but mainly concentrated on selected road events backed by his personal sponsor Batham's brewery, having lost his 2014-ride on a Bathams IWR BMW partway through the season.[2][3]

Personal

Michael Rutter's father, Tony Rutter, was a successful motorcycle racer in the 1970s, winning 7 Isle of Man TT races, and four times world champion in the TT Formula Two series. Michael lives in Bridgnorth, Shropshire.

Career

Rutter raced trials in his teens and began circuit racing in 1989. His first full season in the British Superbike Championship was 1993; he finished 8th overall and also made his first four World Superbike Championship starts that year. He finished in the overall BSB top six every year from 1994 to 1998, coming in third overall in 1997. His win at Donington Park in the wet in 1995 broke the duopoly of Steve Hislop and Jamie Whitham. His first World Superbike podium came at the same circuit in 1997. He won at Oulton Park and Donington in 1998. Tellingly, each of these standout results was achieved in wet conditions.

He spent 1999 in the 500cc World Championship, scoring occasional points but not being among the front runners. He returned to the domestic series for 2000 on a Ray Stringer private Yamaha. Again, a wet race provided his only victory. Still, his road racing results dwarfed what he managed on track.

After a solid 2001, Rutter came second to Steve Hislop in 2002 with the renegade Ducati team, including eight wins and five poles. He was third for the team in 2003, this time dwarfed by Shane Byrne.

He spent 2004 and 2005 with the factory Honda team. In 2004 he was never off the front row and took 11 podiums in the first 12 races, but a midseason run of 6 non-podiums gave Suzuki's John Reynolds the title. In 2005 Honda team-mate Ryuichi Kiyonari had the better of Rutter, who came 3rd overall and lost the ride for 2006.

For 2006 he rejoined his former Monstermob boss Paul Bird, now running semi-works Hondas with Eddie Stobart funding. He finished third first time out, but only repeated this feat once more throughout the season, finishing seventh overall and losing the ride after the 2006 season. For 2007, Rutter was the sole rider for the MSS Discovery Kawasaki squad, which moved up from British Supersport to contest British Superbikes for the second time (the first was with Julien da Costa in 2005). This was his least successful BSB season ever, as the Kawasaki was not a competitive bike.

Michael Rutter competed in the 2008 British Superbike Championship on a "North West 200" branded Ducati SBK RS08, a team entered to promote this famed road racing event in Northern Ireland. He finished 6th overall with a single win, and made his 300th BSB start at the final meeting of the year.[4]

In 2009 Rutter rode for Rob Mac Racing Yamaha.[5] The partnership was comparatively short-lived with Rutter leaving the team in May 2009.[6] Rutter raced various machines for the rest of the season, with little success.

For 2010 Rutter took his Bathams Brewery sponsorship to the Ridersmotorcycles.com team, partnering Martin Jessopp on their Ducatis. He scored the team's first win at Knockhill, in wet conditions.[7] He also led race two at Snetterton, but was stopped by a broken gear lever. He took pole at the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit, and was leading race one when it was stopped for rain, ultimately coming second to Alastair Seeley.[8]

Rutter is also a road racing rider, having won 12 times at the North West 200 festival in Northern Ireland. He has one win and eight further podium finishes at the Isle of Man TT festival. He holds the record of most wins at the Macau Grand Prix.[9]

Michael Rutter on MotoCzysz during 2012 TT Zero race

On 4 June 2012 Michael Rutter became the first person to lap the Isle of Man Mountain Course at over 100 mph on an electric motorcycle. His lap time was 22 min 05.05 sec (average speed 102.50 mph) however he did not win the £10,000 prize for this feat as the time was set in a practice session and not in a race. In the previous year's TT Zero race he had narrowly missed out on the prize with a lap at an average speed of 99.604 mph. On 6 June Michael Rutter broke the 100 mph barrier in the TT Zero race winning with a lap time of 21:45.33, averaging 104.056 mph.

Career Record

Road Racing

1996

1997

1998

2000

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2008

2011

2012

2013

2015

Circuit Racing

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

British Superbike Championship

Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Pos Pts Ref
R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2
2006 Honda BHI
3		 BHI
Ret		 DON
7		 DON
Ret		 THR
6		 THR
7		 OUL
9		 OUL
6		 MOP
C		 MOP
C		 MAL
6		 MAL
6		 SNE
7		 SNE
Ret		 KNO
13		 KNO
10		 OUL
6		 OUL
7		 CRO
6		 CRO
6		 CAD
Ret		 CAD
Ret		 SIL
5		 SIL
7		 BHGP
3		 BHGP
8		 7th 206
2007 Yamaha BHGP
10		 BHGP
7		 THR
11		 THR
8		 SIL
10		 SIL
9		 OUL
15		 OUL
13		 SNE
11		 SNE
Ret		 OUL
Ret		 OUL
7		 MAL
Ret		 MAL
8		 CRO
13		 CRO
8		 CAD
11		 CAD
10		 DON
9		 DON
8		 BHI
8		 BHI
10		 12th 104
2008 Ducati THR
3		 THR
3		 OUL
4		 OUL
6		 BHGP
Ret		 BHGP
5		 DON
8		 DON
8		 SNE
9		 SNE
4		 MAL
Ret		 MAL
1		 OUL
7		 OUL
11		 KNO
4 		KNO
2 		CAD
6		 CAD
5		 CRO
6		 CRO
6		 SIL
4		 SIL
7		 BHI
7		 BHI
6		 6th 256
2009 Yamaha BHI
16		 BHI
17		 OUL
17		 OUL
Ret		 16th 66
Suzuki THR
5		 THR
5		 SNE
7		 SNE
Ret		 KNO
11		 KNO
Ret
Honda MAL
4		 MAL
6
Kawasaki BHGP
10		 BHGP
Ret		 BHGP
10
Ducati SIL
Ret		 SIL
15		 OUL
12		 OUL
8		 OUL
Ret
2010 Ducati BHI
7		 BHI
6		 THR
5		 THR
7		 OUL
Ret		 OUL
2		 CAD
3		 CAD
4		 MAL
4 		MAL
4		 KNO
1		 KNO
C		 SNE
4		 SNE
Ret		 SNE
4		 BHGP
2		 BHGP
3		 BHGP
3		 CAD
5		 CAD
5		 CRO
23		 CRO
5		 SIL
1		 SIL
Ret		 OUL
Ret		 OUL
4		 OUL
Ret		 5th 5591 [10]
2011 Ducati BHI
6		 BHI
7		 OUL
11		 OUL
6		 CRO
Ret		 CRO
8		 THR
2		 THR
Ret		 KNO
Ret		 KNO
9		 SNE
13		 SNE
DNS		 OUL
3		 OUL
C		 BHGP
2		 BHGP
5		 BHGP
5		 CAD
Ret2		 CAD
Ret		 CAD
DNS		 DON DON SIL
8		 SIL
8		 BHGP
7		 BHGP
Ret		 BHGP
7		 8th 164 [11]
2012 Kawasaki BHI
3		 BHI
C		 THR
Ret		 THR
Ret		 OUL
8		 OUL
Ret		 OUL
15		 SNE
14		 SNE
13		 KNO
10		 KNO
Ret		 OUL
14		 OUL
Ret		 OUL
16		 BHGP
10		 BHGP
17		 CAD
11		 CAD
10		 DON
22		 DON
14		 ASS
17		 ASS
19		 SIL
18		 SIL
16		 BHGP
13		 BHGP
18		 BHGP
15		 19th 61 [12]
1.^ – Rutter qualified for "The Showdown" part of the BSB season, thus before the Croft round he was awarded 500 points plus the podium credits he had gained throughout the season. Podium credits are given to anyone finishing 1st, 2nd or 3rd, with 3,2 and 1 points awarded respectively.
2.^ – Josh Brookes collided with Rutter, causing Rutter to suffer broken ribs and miss the following 4 races.[13]

References

  1. ↑ Michael Rutter joins Gearlink Kawasaki 15 April 2015 Retrieved 02 January 2016
  2. ↑ Rutter to miss out on 2015 BSB season Motorcycle News, 20 March 2015, Retrieved 31 December 2015
  3. ↑ Bridgnorth's Michael Rutter still revved up after mixed fortunes Shropshire Star, 26 December 2014. Retrieved 31 December 2015
  4. ↑ Rutter prepares for the 'big 300' | BSB News | Oct 2008 | Crash.Net
  5. ↑ http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/sport/sportresults/mcn/2008/December/15-21/dec1608-michael-rutter-to-rob-mac-yamaha/?&R=EPI-104944/ Rob Mac Yamaha
  6. ↑ Michael Rutter leaves NW200 Coca Cola Yamaha – News | Motorcycle Sport | BSB Results | MCN
  7. ↑ "Rutter Masters Conditions for Knockhill win". crash.net (Crash Media Group). 2010-07-04. Retrieved 2010-07-04.
  8. ↑ "Seeley edges Rutter for maiden BSB win". crash.net (Crash Media Group). 2010-08-07. Retrieved 2010-08-07.
  9. ↑ "Michael Rutter wins record seventh Macau Grand Prix". BBC. 20 November 2011. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
  10. ↑ http://www.britishsuperbike.com/media/164500/standings.pdf
  11. ↑ http://www.britishsuperbike.com/media/407432/standings.pdf
  12. ↑ "Round 7 – Standings" (PDF). MotorSportVision Racing. 8 July 2012. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
  13. ↑ http://www.crash.net/british+superbikes/news/172501/1/brookes_excluded_for_rutter_collision.html
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Andreas Hofmann		 Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix
Winner
1998 		Succeeded by
David Jefferies
Preceded by
David Jefferies		 Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix
Winner
2000 		Succeeded by
John McGuinness
Preceded by
John McGuinness		 Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix
Winner
2002–2005 		Succeeded by
Steve Plater
Preceded by
Stuart Easton		 Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix
Winner
2011–2012 		Succeeded by
Ian Hutchinson
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