Michael Rutter (motorcyclist)

Michael Rutter
Michael Rutter
	Michael Rutter riding a Crescent Suzuki during the 2009 BSB at Snetterton
Nationality	British
Born	18 April 1972; Wordsley. West Midlands, England, United Kingdom
Current team	Bathams Racing
Bike number	4
Motorcycle racing career statistics
British Superbike Championship
Active years	2001 – 2016
Manufacturers	Ducati, Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki
Championships	0

Michael Karl Rutter (born 18 April 1972 in Wordsley, West Midlands) nicknamed "The Blade", is a British motorcycle racer. He currently races in the National Superstock 1000 Championship aboard a BMW S1000RR. He has a reputation for being at his best in wet conditions and his favourite circuit is Oulton Park. He won 29 British Superbike Championship races with the most recent being at Silverstone in 2010, and finished as series runner-up twice. He has also contested MotoGP and World Superbike Championship events.

During 2015, Rutter was a temporary replacement rider for Gearlink Kawasaki in BSB,[1] but mainly concentrated on selected road events backed by his personal sponsor Batham's brewery, having lost his 2014-ride on a Bathams IWR BMW partway through the season.[2][3]

Personal

Michael Rutter's father, Tony Rutter, was a successful motorcycle racer in the 1970s, winning 7 Isle of Man TT races, and four times world champion in the TT Formula Two series. Michael lives in Bridgnorth, Shropshire.

Career

Rutter raced trials in his teens and began circuit racing in 1989. His first full season in the British Superbike Championship was 1993; he finished 8th overall and also made his first four World Superbike Championship starts that year. He finished in the overall BSB top six every year from 1994 to 1998, coming in third overall in 1997. His win at Donington Park in the wet in 1995 broke the duopoly of Steve Hislop and Jamie Whitham. His first World Superbike podium came at the same circuit in 1997. He won at Oulton Park and Donington in 1998. Tellingly, each of these standout results was achieved in wet conditions.

He spent 1999 in the 500cc World Championship, scoring occasional points but not being among the front runners. He returned to the domestic series for 2000 on a Ray Stringer private Yamaha. Again, a wet race provided his only victory. Still, his road racing results dwarfed what he managed on track.

After a solid 2001, Rutter came second to Steve Hislop in 2002 with the renegade Ducati team, including eight wins and five poles. He was third for the team in 2003, this time dwarfed by Shane Byrne.

He spent 2004 and 2005 with the factory Honda team. In 2004 he was never off the front row and took 11 podiums in the first 12 races, but a midseason run of 6 non-podiums gave Suzuki's John Reynolds the title. In 2005 Honda team-mate Ryuichi Kiyonari had the better of Rutter, who came 3rd overall and lost the ride for 2006.

For 2006 he rejoined his former Monstermob boss Paul Bird, now running semi-works Hondas with Eddie Stobart funding. He finished third first time out, but only repeated this feat once more throughout the season, finishing seventh overall and losing the ride after the 2006 season. For 2007, Rutter was the sole rider for the MSS Discovery Kawasaki squad, which moved up from British Supersport to contest British Superbikes for the second time (the first was with Julien da Costa in 2005). This was his least successful BSB season ever, as the Kawasaki was not a competitive bike.

Michael Rutter competed in the 2008 British Superbike Championship on a "North West 200" branded Ducati SBK RS08, a team entered to promote this famed road racing event in Northern Ireland. He finished 6th overall with a single win, and made his 300th BSB start at the final meeting of the year.[4]

In 2009 Rutter rode for Rob Mac Racing Yamaha.[5] The partnership was comparatively short-lived with Rutter leaving the team in May 2009.[6] Rutter raced various machines for the rest of the season, with little success.

For 2010 Rutter took his Bathams Brewery sponsorship to the Ridersmotorcycles.com team, partnering Martin Jessopp on their Ducatis. He scored the team's first win at Knockhill, in wet conditions.[7] He also led race two at Snetterton, but was stopped by a broken gear lever. He took pole at the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit, and was leading race one when it was stopped for rain, ultimately coming second to Alastair Seeley.[8]

Real road racing

Rutter is also a road racing rider, having won 14 times at the North West 200 festival in Northern Ireland. He has 7 wins at the Isle of Man TT races, 5 of which were in the TT Zero class.

Macau Grand Prix

Rutter on the electric MotoCzysz exiting Ramsey during 2012 TT Zero race

He holds the record of most wins at the Macau Grand Prix.[9] In November 2018, Rutter came second, riding a Honda RC213V provided by his new sponsor, Faye Ho, granddaughter of Macau-based businessman Stanley Ho. The race was won by Peter Hickman on his usual Smith's BMW S1000RR, but also sponsored for the event by Ho's business, Aspire-Ho.[10]

Isle of Man

On 4 June 2012 Michael Rutter became the first person to lap the Isle of Man Mountain Course at over 100 mph on an electric motorcycle. His lap time was 22 min 05.05 sec (average speed 102.50 mph) however he did not win the £10,000 prize for this feat as the time was set in a practice session and not in a race. In the previous year's TT Zero race he had narrowly missed out on the prize with a lap at an average speed of 99.604 mph. On 6 June Michael Rutter broke the 100 mph barrier in the TT Zero race winning with a lap time of 21:45.33, averaging 104.056 mph.

Career Record

Road Racing

1995

2nd North West 200

1996

1st North West 200
3rd IOM Formula One TT

1997

2nd IOM Formula One TT
3rd IOM Junior TT

1998

1st Macau GP
1st North West 200
1st IOM Junior TT
2nd IOM Formula One TT

2000

2nd IOM Formula One TT
2nd IOM Senior TT
3rd IOM Production 1000 TT
1st Macau GP (Formula One)
1st Macau GP (Senior)
1st North West 200
1st North West 200
1st North West 200

2002

1st Macau GP

2003

1st North West 200
1st Macau GP

2004

1st North West 200
1st Macau GP

2005

1st North West 200
1st Macau GP

2006

2nd North West 200
2nd Macau GP

2008

1st North West 200
2nd Macau GP

2011

1st IOM TT Zero
1st Macau GP

2012

1st IOM TT Zero
3rd IOM TT Supertwins
1st Macau GP

2013

1st IOM TT Zero

2015

3rd IOM TT Supertwins

2017

2nd NW200 Supertwin 1
2nd NW200 Superbike 1
1st NW200 Supertwin 2
3rd NW200 Superstock 2
1st IOM TT Supertwin

2018

1st IOM TT Zero
3rd IOM TT Supertwin
2nd Macau GP

Circuit Racing

1991

3rd Superteen Championship

1992

3rd National 250GP Championship
First Superbike Race

1993

7th British Superbike Championship

1994

6th British Superbike Championship

1995

5th British Superbike Championship

1996

4th British Superbike Championship

1997

3rd British Superbike Championship
3rd World Superbike race at Brands Hatch

1998

6th British Superbike Championship

1999

World 500 GP Championship (best 11th)

2000

9th British Superbike Championship

2001

6th British Superbike Championship

2002

2nd British Superbike Championship

2003

3rd British Superbike Championship

2004

2nd British Superbike Championship

2005

3rd British Superbike Championship

2006

7th British Superbike Championship

2007

12th British Superbike Championship

2008

6th British Superbike Championship

2009

16th British Superbike Championship

2010

5th British Superbike Championship

2011

8th British Superbike Championship

2012

19th British Superbike Championship

2013

18th British Superbike Championship

2014

18th British Superbike Championship

2015

31st British Superbike Championship

2016

4th National Superstock 1000 Championship

British Superbike Championship

Year	Bike	1		2		3			4		5		6			7			8			9			10		11		12			13		Pos	Pts	Ref
Year	Bike	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R3	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R3	R1	R2	R3	R1	R2	R3	R1	R2	R3	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R3	R1	R2	Pos	Pts	Ref
2006	Honda	BHI 3	BHI Ret	DON 7	DON Ret	THR 6	THR 7		OUL 9	OUL 6	MOP C	MOP C	MAL 6	MAL 6		SNE 7	SNE Ret		KNO 13	KNO 10		OUL 6	OUL 7		CRO 6	CRO 6		CAD Ret	CAD Ret	SIL 5	SIL 7	BHGP 3	BHGP 8	7th	206
2007	Yamaha	BHGP 10	BHGP 7	THR 11	THR 8	SIL 10	SIL 9		OUL 15	OUL 13	SNE 11	SNE Ret							OUL Ret	OUL 7		MAL Ret	MAL 8		CRO 13	CRO 8	CAD 11	CAD 10	DON 9	DON 8		BHI 8	BHI 10	12th	104
2008	Ducati	THR 3	THR 3	OUL 4	OUL 6	BHGP Ret	BHGP 5		DON 8	DON 8	SNE 9	SNE 4	MAL Ret	MAL 1		OUL 7	OUL 11		KNO 4	KNO 2		CAD 6	CAD 5		CRO 6	CRO 6	SIL 4	SIL 7	BHI 7	BHI 6				6th	256
2009	Yamaha	BHI 16	BHI 17	OUL 17	OUL Ret																													16th	66
	Suzuki								THR 5	THR 5	SNE 7	SNE Ret	KNO 11	KNO Ret
	Honda															MAL 4	MAL 6
	Kawasaki																		BHGP 10	BHGP Ret	BHGP 10
	Ducati																										SIL Ret	SIL 15	OUL 12	OUL 8	OUL Ret
2010	Ducati	BHI 7	BHI 6	THR 5	THR 7	OUL Ret	OUL 2		CAD 3	CAD 4	MAL 4	MAL 4	KNO 1	KNO C		SNE 4	SNE Ret	SNE 4	BHGP 2	BHGP 3	BHGP 3	CAD 5	CAD 5		CRO 23	CRO 5	SIL 1	SIL Ret	OUL Ret	OUL 4	OUL Ret			5th	559¹	[11]
2011	Ducati	BHI 6	BHI 7	OUL 11	OUL 6	CRO Ret	CRO 8		THR 2	THR Ret	KNO Ret	KNO 9	SNE 13	SNE DNS		OUL 3	OUL C		BHGP 2	BHGP 5	BHGP 5	CAD Ret²	CAD Ret	CAD DNS	DON	DON	SIL 8	SIL 8	BHGP 7	BHGP Ret	BHGP 7			8th	164	[12]
2012	Kawasaki	BHI 3	BHI C	THR Ret	THR Ret	OUL 8	OUL Ret	OUL 15	SNE 14	SNE 13	KNO 10	KNO Ret	OUL 14	OUL Ret	OUL 16	BHGP 10	BHGP 17		CAD 11	CAD 10		DON 22	DON 14		ASS 17	ASS 19	SIL 18	SIL 16	BHGP 13	BHGP 18	BHGP 15			19th	61	[13]

1.^ – Rutter qualified for "The Showdown" part of the BSB season, thus before the Croft round he was awarded 500 points plus the podium credits he had gained throughout the season. Podium credits are given to anyone finishing 1st, 2nd or 3rd, with 3,2 and 1 points awarded respectively.

2.^ – Josh Brookes collided with Rutter, causing Rutter to suffer broken ribs and miss the following 4 races.[14]

gollark: ... yes, but that's also quite bad.

gollark: I mean, deterrence, but that... is probably best served in a less ultraviolence way.

gollark: What's the actual *purpose* of punishing people after they do things?

gollark: So what?

gollark: torture BAD

References

Michael Rutter joins Gearlink Kawasaki 15 April 2015 Retrieved 02 January 2016
Rutter to miss out on 2015 BSB season Motorcycle News, 20 March 2015, Retrieved 31 December 2015
Bridgnorth's Michael Rutter still revved up after mixed fortunes Shropshire Star, 26 December 2014. Retrieved 31 December 2015
Rutter prepares for the 'big 300' | BSB News | Oct 2008 | Crash.Net
http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/sport/sportresults/mcn/2008/December/15-21/dec1608-michael-rutter-to-rob-mac-yamaha/?&R=EPI-104944/ Rob Mac Yamaha
Michael Rutter leaves NW200 Coca Cola Yamaha – News | Motorcycle Sport | BSB Results | MCN
"Rutter Masters Conditions for Knockhill win". crash.net. Crash Media Group. 4 July 2010. Retrieved 4 July 2010.
"Seeley edges Rutter for maiden BSB win". crash.net. Crash Media Group. 7 August 2010. Retrieved 7 August 2010.
"Michael Rutter wins record seventh Macau Grand Prix". BBC. 20 November 2011. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
Rutter returns to Macau with new team and lofty ambitions Macau Daily Times, 21 September 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2019
"Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 25 August 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
"Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 26 June 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
"Round 7 – Standings" (PDF). MotorSportVision Racing. 8 July 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 March 2013. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
http://www.crash.net/british+superbikes/news/172501/1/brookes_excluded_for_rutter_collision.html

Sporting positions
Preceded by Andreas Hofmann	Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix Winner 1998	Succeeded by David Jefferies
Preceded by David Jefferies	Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix Winner 2000	Succeeded by John McGuinness
Preceded by John McGuinness	Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix Winner 2002–2005	Succeeded by Steve Plater
Preceded by Stuart Easton	Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix Winner 2011–2012	Succeeded by Ian Hutchinson

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] Michael Rutter joins Gearlink Kawasaki 15 April 2015 Retrieved 02 January 2016

[2] Rutter to miss out on 2015 BSB season Motorcycle News, 20 March 2015, Retrieved 31 December 2015

[3] Bridgnorth's Michael Rutter still revved up after mixed fortunes Shropshire Star, 26 December 2014. Retrieved 31 December 2015

[4] Rutter prepares for the 'big 300' | BSB News | Oct 2008 | Crash.Net

[5] ttp://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/sport/sportresults/mcn/2008/December/15-21/dec1608-michael-rutter-to-rob-mac-yamaha/?&R=EPI-104944/ Rob Mac Yamaha

[6] Michael Rutter leaves NW200 Coca Cola Yamaha – News | Motorcycle Sport | BSB Results | MCN

[7] "Rutter Masters Conditions for Knockhill win". crash.net. Crash Media Group. 4 July 2010. Retrieved 4 July 2010.

[8] "Seeley edges Rutter for maiden BSB win". crash.net. Crash Media Group. 7 August 2010. Retrieved 7 August 2010.

[9] "Michael Rutter wins record seventh Macau Grand Prix". BBC. 20 November 2011. Retrieved 20 November 2011.

[10] Rutter returns to Macau with new team and lofty ambitions Macau Daily Times, 21 September 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2019

[11] "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 25 August 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[12] "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 26 June 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[2012standings-13] "Round 7 – Standings" (PDF). MotorSportVision Racing. 8 July 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 March 2013. Retrieved 9 July 2012.

[14] ttp://www.crash.net/british+superbikes/news/172501/1/brookes_excluded_for_rutter_collision.html

1

2