 North West 200 - Front Row for Rutter [EN] [16-05-08 17:23 by staff GoNBike.com] | ||
Front Row Start for Rutter Michael Rutter and the North West Ducati Team secured some good results in yesterdays second practice/qualifying session at the Kennedy North West 200. Rutter ended up second in the Superbike class behind John McGuinness and third in the Superstock class behind Keith Amor and Alastair Seeley. He will start in both the Superbike races and the Superstock race on the front row of the grid. Once again the sun was shining on the competitors of the North West and the NW200 Ducati team were eager to find a strong race set up on the Superbike (Ducati F08) and Superstock (Ducati 1098 R) machines. Rutter completed 11 laps in the Superstock class and set a time of 4:28.138 at an average speed of 120.377 mph and 12 laps were completed on the Superbike with a time of 4:22.999 only 0.6 off pole position, setting an average speed of 122.729 mph. The atmosphere was dampened slightly when the news came later in the night that Robert Dunlop, brother to the late Joey lost his life in a tragic accident yesterday afternoon after the Superbike and Superstock sessions had taken place. After consulting Robert's wife, Louise they have agreed for the races tomorrow, Saturday 17th May, to go ahead, a minutes silence will be held tomorrow morning before race one. Rutter commented "Firstly I would like to pass on my thoughts to the friends and family of Robert, whom I was a good friend and also a team-mate to at the TT in 1993. He was a great character around the paddock and will be sadly missed by everyone, he achieved so much in his career and it's a sad loss to the sport." He went on to say "We managed to find a better set up with both bikes last night and I felt a lot more comfortable on them and looking forward to the races tomorrow. I didn't manage many laps on the Superstock bike on Tuesday as the session was cancelled so it was good to get out on there on that. It's a great bike and it wasn't long before I felt comfortable on it, having only ridden the stock 1098 at the start of the season in Spain I was had to adjust to riding it. The boys have been working really hard we achieved a lot yesterday and I'm feeling confident for the races. I'm really pleased though and hopefully tomorrow will be a good safe days racing." If you are unable to be present here at the North West with the expected 130'000 crowd then you can watch the races live via our NW200 Ducati website - www.nw200ducati.com ::NW200 Ducati Racing Team - Press Release:: | ||
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