It has been an ideal race day for Michael Rutter and the NW200 team over at the Kennedy International North West 200 race. The 36-year-old rider took a stunning victory in the opening Superbike race at the amazing Irish road circuit. Rutter who had qualified in second place on the grid behind John McGuinness, timed his move on the leaders to perfection and made a solid move on Guy Martin and John McGuinness on the last lap and took his twelfth North West victory. Rutter slid off in the Superstock race and was uninjured and secured a solid third place in the big North West Superbike race.
A good start in the first race saw Rutter 'The Blade' settling into second position behind Honda mounted Guy Martin. He knew that he would need to plan his time well to ensure of the win and he had to conserve his tyres wisely. Reaching speeds of 198 mph down the straights enables the riders the prime opportunity to make use of slip steam passes, which Rutter used to his advantage on the final lap drawing in the pair in front of him.
At one point Rutter had slipped back to fifth position behind Guy Martin, John McGuinness, Steve Plater and Cameron Donald. Planning his moves with precision he passed Plater on lap four of the five and moved to fourth, Donald ran on at the Metropole and allowed Rutter to move his way back through to third behind Martin and McGuinness. The torque of the Ducati and the double slip-stream effect gave Blade the perfect chance to take the lead on the final lap, holding off the hounding pair he took a stunning victory for the NW200 team, his first win at the North West since 2005.
A delighted Rutter commented after the opening race;
"This is the ideal start to the day for me. My team have worked so hard this week to find me the best set up. It's a new experience for us all to work together as a team over here and they have all worked very hard and this is the best way of repaying them. It's been a long time coming and with our teams association with the event it could have come at a better time and I'm delighted with the race result."
Rutter did not gain the best start in the Superstock race and fell back to sixth place by the first corner. Sadly he lost the front end of the Ducati into York corner on lap two of the 8.9-mile circuit.
No sooner had he got back to the pits but he was out again on the Ducati F08 for the main race of the day. In an exciting and nail-biting six lap race with positions being exchanged on numerous occasions, it looked like Rutter would once again take the victory but a blocked move by Steve Plater on the last lap spoiled Rutter's hopes and he dropped from the first place he had just taken from Cameron Donald to third position over the line with Plater taking the victory.
Speaking after race two, Rutter said;
"It's been a very good day for the team and I can't complain about the two Superbike results. I had a bit of a nightmare in the Superstock race and had a small crash, luckily it was nothing serious and I was able to get back to the start for the second Superbike race. I planned a clean move on Cameron late into the last lap and Steve (Plater) managed to come up the inside of the pair of us. I had to shut off out of the corner and lost my drive and ended up finishing third. I can't complain too much and I'm glad to be back on the podium at one of the events of the year that I look forward to the most. I would like to thank Mervyn and Alistair once again for putting on an amazing event, they do a fantastic job as do all the volunteers involved and 2008 has been no exception to what has been another incredible North West 200. I hope everyone has had a good weekend and enjoyed themselves."
Related Link:
www.nw200ducati.com
