Michael Rutter (motorcyclist)

Last updated

Michael Rutter
Michael Rutter - BSB Snetterton 2009.jpg
Michael Rutter riding a Crescent Suzuki during the 2009 BSB at Snetterton
NationalityBritish
Born (1972-04-18) 18 April 1972 (age 52)
Wordsley, Staffordshire, England
Current teamBathams Racing
Bike number14
Motorcycle racing career statistics
British Superbike Championship
Active years2001 – 2016
ManufacturersDucati, Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki
Championships 0
StartsWinsPodiums Poles F. laps Points
43129109900

Michael Karl Rutter (born 18 April 1972 in Wordsley, Staffordshire) nicknamed "The Blade", is a British motorcycle racer. He 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. He also cameoed in Coronation Street in 2008 as an extra, who put money in a slot machine and sat by the fire place.

Contents

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.

In 2024, Glen Helen 1, a right corner on the Snaefell Mountain Course in the Isle of Man, was named Rutter's in recognition of the collective achievements of both Michael and Tony Rutter, tallying 14 TT wins and 38 podiums. [4]

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. [5]

In 2009 Rutter rode for Rob Mac Racing Yamaha. [6] The partnership was comparatively short-lived with Rutter leaving the team in May 2009. [7] 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. [8] 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. [9]

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 TT ZERO Rutter IMG 0104.jpg
Rutter on the electric MotoCzysz exiting Ramsey during 2012 TT Zero race

He holds the record of most wins at the Macau Grand Prix. [10] 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. [11]

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

1996

1997

1998

2000

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2008

2011

2012

2013

2015

2017

2018

Circuit racing

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

British Superbike Championship

YearBike12345678910111213PosPtsRef
R1R2R1R2R1R2R3R1R2R1R2R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R1R2R1R2R3R1R2
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
7th206
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
12th104
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
6th256
2009 Yamaha BHI
16
BHI
17
OUL
17
OUL
Ret
16th66
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
5th559 1 [12]
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
Ret 2
CAD
Ret
CAD
DNS
DON DON SIL
8
SIL
8
BHGP
7
BHGP
Ret
BHGP
7
8th164 [13]
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
19th61 [14]


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. [15]

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References

  1. Michael Rutter joins Gearlink Kawasaki 15 April 2015 Retrieved 2 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. Legacy of father and son TT champions celebrated BBC News , 29 May 2024. Retrieved 9 June 2024
  5. Rutter prepares for the 'big 300' | BSB News | Oct 2008 | Crash.Net
  6. 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
  7. Michael Rutter leaves NW200 Coca Cola Yamaha – News | Motorcycle Sport | BSB Results | MCN
  8. "Rutter Masters Conditions for Knockhill win". crash.net. Crash Media Group. 4 July 2010. Retrieved 4 July 2010.
  9. "Seeley edges Rutter for maiden BSB win". crash.net. Crash Media Group. 7 August 2010. Retrieved 7 August 2010.
  10. "Michael Rutter wins record seventh Macau Grand Prix". BBC . 20 November 2011. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
  11. Rutter returns to Macau with new team and lofty ambitions Macau Daily Times , 21 September 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2019
  12. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 25 August 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  13. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 26 June 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  14. "Round 7 – Standings" (PDF). MotorSportVision Racing. 8 July 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 March 2013. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
  15. "Brookes excluded for Rutter collision". 28 August 2011.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Andreas Hofmann
Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix
Winner

1998
Succeeded by
Preceded by Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix
Winner

2000
Succeeded by
Preceded by Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix
Winner

2002–2005
Succeeded by
Preceded by Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix
Winner

2011–2012
Succeeded by