Michael Rutter and his ISILON MSS Discovery Kawasaki team head the time sheets for this weekend’s North West 200 Superbike races. The 34-year-old from Kirkby Mallory set a best average lap time of 119.881mph on his Ninja ZX-10R machine, recording a top speed of 198mph in the process! In the Supersport class, Rutter was in 11th position aboard the Ninja ZX-6R, just ahead of his team-mate Stuart Easton. The 23-year-old Scot from Hawick, suffered a technical problem aboard the ZX-10R in the Superbike class but still recorded 8th overall. The International North West 200 is a pure roads course. Set on ‘The Triangle Circuit’ the 8.966-mile course winds its way between Portrush, Portstewart and Coleraine. In 2005 Michael broke the record for the fastest speed ever recorded in the 78-year history of the event when he was trapped at 201.1mph! It is one of the biggest sporting events in Europe, regularly attracting crowds in excess of 150,000 people.
Michael Rutter, Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R (1st in Superbike, 11th in Supersport) “Obviously we’re over the moon to be at the top of the timesheets, but there’s still a session to go before the race. With the Supersport bike it’s been good to get some time on it and hopefully that will give Stuart some extra feedback. Let’s see if we can improve further.”
Stuart Easton, Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R (8th in Superbike, 12th in Supersport) “I’m quite happy with what we’ve done so far in the Superbikes. There’s a slim chance we may still be able to race the ZX-10R, the guys are checking the problem now. We lost time with the Superbike and the Supersport machine and I’m not yet at the pace I’ve done here before, but I’m happy enough to be right behind Michael on the time sheets as he’s Mr North West 200! If it rains for Thursday then I’m not going to be too upset as the times will stand.”
Nick Morgan, Team owner
“We had a technical problem with the big bike for Stuart, but it’s refreshing to see us at the top of the time sheets. After back-to-back BSB races and a disappointing Oulton Park, it’s a proper pick-me-up for the team – there’s nothing like a good result to regenerate the batteries! It’s also good for the sponsors who will get superb exposure from this huge event.”
Stuart Simmonds, joint team owner “This is more like it! It is superb to see an ISILON MSS Discovery Kawasaki at the top and it’s a real boost to the morale of the team after such a hard weekend at Oulton Park. Let’s hope we can keep this up on Thursday and the races on Saturday.”
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