Michael Rutter (motorcycle racer)

Michael Rutter
Michael Rutter riding a Crescent Suzuki during the 2009 BSB at Snetterton
Nationality	British
Born	18 April 1972 (1972-04-18) (age 39) Wordsley. West Midlands
Current team	Rapid Solicitors-Bathams Ducati
Bike number	8

Michael Karl Rutter (born 18 April 1972 in Wordsley) nicknamed "The Blade", is a British motorcycle racer. He has a reputation for being at his best in wet conditions and his favourite circuit is Oulton Park. He has won 27 British Superbike Championship races, most recently at Knockhill in 2010, and finished as series runner-up twice. He has also contested MotoGP and World Superbike Championship events.

Personal

It was a case of natural progression for Michael, as he grew up with motorcycle racing. His father is Tony Rutter, a successful rider himself in the 1970s who won 7 Isle of Man TT races, and was four times world champion in the TT Formula Two series. Michael lives in Bridgnorth, Shropshire with his fiance.

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 Ireland. He finished 6th overall with a single win, and made his 300th BSB start at the final meeting of the year.^[1]

For 2009 it has been announced that Rutter will ride for Rob Mac Racing Yamaha, again sporting North West 200 colours. This means he will form a partnership with Chris Walker, making the team amongst the most experienced in he paddock. Walker, however, rode under the blue Henderson Insurance banner. The decision from NW200 to back the team means that for the first time since 1995 no front running Duactis ran in BSB.^[2] The partnership was comparatively short-lived with Rutter leaving the team in May 2009.^[3] 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.^[4] 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.^[5]

Rutter is also a very accomplished road racing rider, having won 12 times at the North West 200 festival in Northern Ireland. He has one win and eight further podium finishes at the Isle of Man TT festival. He holds the record of most wins at the Macau Grand Prix.^[6]

Career Record

Road Racing

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

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

2010

British Superbike Championship

Year	Bike	1		2		3		4		5		6		7			8			9			10		11		12			Pos	Pts	Ref
		R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R3	R1	R2	R3	R1	R2	R3	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R3
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	[7]
2011		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	[8]

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.^ – Rutter was involved in a incident with Josh Brookes where Brookes caused a collision between him and Rutter, causing Rutter to suffer broken ribs. Meaning Rutter would miss out on a Showdown spot as he was unable to compete in the following 4 races.^[9]

References

1. ^ Rutter prepares for the 'big 300' | BSB News | Oct 2008 | Crash.Net
2. ^ 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
3. ^ Michael Rutter leaves NW200 Coca Cola Yamaha - News | Motorcycle Sport | BSB Results | MCN
4. ^ "Rutter Masters Conditions for Knockhill win". crash.net (Crash Media Group). 2010-07-04. http://www.crash.net/british+superbikes/race+report/161259/1/rutter_masters_conditions_for_knockhill_win.html. Retrieved 2010-07-04. 
5. ^ "Seeley edges Rutter for maiden BSB win". crash.net (Crash Media Group). 2010-08-07. http://www.crash.net/british+superbikes/race+report/162275/1/seeley_edges_rutter_for_maiden_bsb_win.html. Retrieved 2010-08-07. 
6. ^ "Michael Rutter wins record seventh Macau Grand Prix". BBC. 20 November 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/15810563.stm. Retrieved 20 November 2011. 
7. ^ http://www.britishsuperbike.com/media/164500/standings.pdf
8. ^ http://www.britishsuperbike.com/media/407432/standings.pdf
9. ^ http://www.crash.net/british+superbikes/news/172501/1/brookes_excluded_for_rutter_collision.html

Sporting positions
Preceded by Andreas Hofmann	Macau Motorcyle Grand Prix Winner 1998	Succeeded by David Jefferies
Preceded by David Jefferies	Macau Motorcyle Grand Prix Winner 2000	Succeeded by John McGuinness
Preceded by John McGuinness	Macau Motorcyle Grand Prix Winner 2002-2005	Succeeded by Steve Plater
Preceded by Stuart Easton	Macau Motorcyle Grand Prix Winner 2011	Succeeded by Incumbent

Persondata
Name	Rutter, Michael
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	18 April 1972
Place of birth	Wordsley. West Midlands
Date of death
Place of death