Rutter masters rain soaked Knockhill
Added on Sunday, July 4th, 2010 by Carole Nash Editor
Rutter masters rain soaked Knockhill
Michael Rutter was the sole winner at a weather controlled Knockhill today, storming to victory in the British Superbike Championship outing.
Race one got underway in very wet conditions, with Rutter and Ryuichi Kiyonari enjoying good starts. Josh Brookes got the better of the field, jumping into the lead from the of, whilst James Ellison worked his way through to third.
However, by lap two the heavens opened and, due to safety, the race was red flagged. After waiting for the weather to clear up, the race finally got underway again a few hours later.
This time around it was Kiyonari who got the jump on his rivals, leading the field for much of the opening laps. Dan Linfoot crashed off heading into the SEAT Curve, colliding with Chris Walker, which brought out another red flag momentarily.
The second restart saw Brookes make a strong getaway, launching into the lead from the off. With wet tyres on a drying track the HM Plant Honda duo of Kiyonari and Brookes soon began to struggle, unable to hold off a charging Rutter.
Getting the better of the two Honda’s, Ruuter soon fought his way passed both of them, and into the lead. With Rutter controlling the pace, many of the usual front runners were seemingly struggling, with Tommy Hill slipping down the order, whilst Stuart Easton and James Ellison were battling towards the back of the pack.
As the shortened fifteen lap race came to an end, it was Rutter who showed his dominance across the finish line in style, with a traditional wheelie. Kiyonari crossed the line second, leading home teammate Brookes in third.
Michael Laverty recovered from his crash in qualifying to finish fourth, just ahead of Alastair Seeley, John Laverty and Simon Andrews. Hill eventually finish eighth, with Gary Mason ninth and Chris Walker tenth.
Rutter told the BSB website: “That was terrifying. I really wanted that win and I took it easy to start with and just followed Kiyo and Josh to see how things would go. I thought I had a good chance and it was a lottery out there but it definitely paid off. This is a great result for the Ridersmotorcycles.com Ducati team and they worked hard for it. I was not going to give anything away on the brakes and there were a few times I thought I was going to lose it, but here I am and on the top step so it’s been a good day so far.”
The second race was again delayed due to the weather, however once it got started drama struck once again. As the field headed down the SEAT Curve (turn one), Simon Andrews crashed off of his MSS Colchester Kawasaki. As a result David Johnson, Aaron Zanotti, Andrew Pitt, Gary Mason and Chris Walker all ended up in the gravel after taking avoiding action, bringing out the red flag.
During the race stoppage the weather again played a huge part, as high winds and heavy rain meant the second race could not be restarted, for safety precautions. This race will now be run at the next round at Snetterton, on the 17th July.
Brookes now leads the standings, demoting Hill down to second with a long way still to go. The championship is really beginning to hot up, and looks set to be an interesting second half of the year.
