Macau Misery for Pearson
Ballygowans Michael Pearson’s first visit to the far east venue of Macau on Saturday morning lasted just two full laps of the 3.8 mile Guia Circuit, after clutch failure of the BTS Honda Fireblade, ended Pearson’s hope of a finish, with the 32 year old Co-Down rider gutted after returning to the pits.
Pearson, who had upped his pace consistently all week during free practice and qualifying, still felt that the visit had been a worth while exercise, and that a return next year would be on his calendar of events.
Michael Pearson: “what can I say…You can never allow for something like this to happen even though machine failure is always at the back of your mind at any race. We replaced the clutch on the BTS Honda during the week, and these clutches are normally good enough for two starts, but for some reason or other it let go today. Of course I am gutted, but it was out of my hands. I was confident enough for a race result today, a finish being my aim on the track, but I suppose I will have to wait another year. Its been a brilliant experience, and very worth while. You need to be very good around here to get near the top boys on the quick bikes, and the way that Stuart Easton and Conner Cummins rode was simply quite astonishing to watch. Back to the drawing board now for the 2010 season”.
Willis Marshall (Manager) “I am totally gutted for Michael. To go such a long way from home, to qualify and qualify well, then to get just two laps of the race, is really quite a sucker punch for us all. Michael I believe set about his first appearance at Macau in the right way, learn the place and go quicker bit by bit, and that was evident right through the weeks practice. I think that Michael could have been further up the field during practice had he been on his usual Dunlop Tyres, but with this race all riders have to use Pirelli. As Michael said, you cannot allow for these types of things to happen, they happen to the best in the world…its just one of those things, but I am still very proud of the way he approached what is a difficult and dangerous circuit”.
Have a look at this video