It was a consistent day for the NW200 Ducati team at Donington Park, Monday 26th May. In the blustery conditions Michael Rutter on the North West 200 Ducati F08 gained two eighth positions in the Bennetts British Superbike series with his team-mate John Laverty on the Buildbase NW200 1098 R Ducati securing a win and second place in the Daily Star Cup races.
Fresh from his Superbike win at the North West 200 last week, Rutter was eager to continue his form and retain his fourth position in the overall Championship. In the wet conditions for Sunday's qualifying at Donington he secured a fantastic front row start, putting the NW200 Ducati in third position on the grid.
Electrical problems during morning warm up on Monday forced Rutter to ride his spare bike in both races. The 36-year-old got fantastic starts in the two 20-lap races and was battling with the front runners for a podium position. Struggling with power out of the corners he was unable to match the pace of the leaders and was left in a lonely eighth position in both Superbike races.
A disappointed Rutter commented; "I'm a bit gutted to have finished where I did as it's my worst results of the season so far. I've found it difficult all weekend to find a good set up and with the rain yesterday we missed out on vital dry track time. The circuit was very greasy and that meant the bike was moving around a lot more than normal. I was really happy with my qualifying position and upset with myself that I wasn't able to turn that into two strong race finishes. The team was again worked very hard and it's been an extremely busy month for us all, we went from Oulton to Brands, then the North West and now here, it will be nice to have a few weeks off and allow us all too fully recharge our batteries and be back in fighting form at Snetterton."
John Laverty further extended his lead in the Daily Star Cup Championship; he now holds an 84-point advantage from his nearest rival Martin Jessopp. Laverty once again took a stunning win in the Cup and a solid second in the second race. The youngster from Ballymena, Northern Ireland secured two 16th places in the overall Championship narrowly missing out on the points.
John said;"I'm really pleased with the results that I got at Donington today, the weather has been so mixed over the weekend and we had to try a number of different settings on the bike to get something that felt right. I think the weather covered all aspects at Donington and gave us some good data, which I'm sure will be useful in the future at other rounds. The team have worked really well and I'm pleased that I managed to get the results for them and I must thank them all. Gary Mason is back in Superbikes now and he's running in the Cup series so I'm sure he'll be pushing me hard at future races and will be making me dig deep for the Championship title. I'm looking forward to the break and coming back and extending my lead further at Snetterton."
Race One Result 1. Byrne - Ducati
2. Haslam - Honda
3. Sykes - Suzuki
8. Rutter - North West 200 Ducati
16. J Laverty - Buildbase NW200 Ducati
Race One Cup Result
1. J Laverty - Buildbase NW200 Ducati2. Mason - Honda
3. Tunstall - Honda
Race Two Result 1. Byrne - Ducati
2. Haslam - Honda
3. Crutchlow - Honda
8. Rutter - North West 200 Ducati
16. J Laverty - Buildbase NW200 Ducati
Race Two Cup Results 1. Mason - Honda
2. J Laverty - Buildbase NW200 Ducati3. Tunstall - Honda
Championship Standings 1. Byrne 190
2. Crutchlow 122
3. Camier 107
4. Haslam 96
5. Ellison 88
6. Rutter 82
Cup Standings
1. J Laverty 1712. Jessopp 87
3. Tunstall 84
2008 Races Round 5 - 13th - 15th June - Snetterton, Norfolk
Round 6 - 27th - 29th June - Mallory Park
Round 7 - 18th - 20th July - Oulton Park, Cheshire
Round 8 - 8th - 10th August - Knockhill, Fife
Round 9 - 23rd - 25th August - Cadwell Park, Lincs
Round 10 - 12th - 14th September - Croft, North Yorkshire
Round 11 - 26th - 28th September, Silverstone, Northants
Round 12 - 10th - 12th October - Brands Hatch Indy, Kent
Related Link:
www.nw200ducati.com
Words by Carly Rathmell
