Magnificent seven as Michael Rutter matches his dad

Michael Rutter once again returned from the Isle of Man TT a very happy man after securing his seventh win around the iconic 37.73-mile course.

The Brierley Hill-born star proved to be one of the most popular racers on the island once more, particularly when riding his noisy and superb MotoGP-spec Honda RCV superbike, which proved to be a real fans favourite.

He also rode a BMW 1000RR and Kawasaki KMR with great success in the superstock and supertwin classes, but it was the TT Zero where he shone brightest once more.

Mounted on a Honda Bathams Mugen, he set a new fastest lap of 121.91mph en route to his fifth victory in the class. He was pushed hard by team-mate and good friend, 23-time TT winner John McGuinness, who trailed him by 8.5 seconds over the finish line.

Rutter’s seventh victory meant he equalled his father Tony’s tally of seven wins on the mountain course as well as maintaining his record of having never been beaten in the TT Zero class.

“Honestly, I rode so hard from the very start,” he said.

“I knew I’d have to put everything into that single lap in order to beat John.

“You can’t make a single mistake when you’re racing him. The rear was spinning in places and I lost the front coming into Kirk Michael.

“Genuinely, I don’t think I could have gone any faster. Obviously I’m thrilled to add another TT win, and to beat someone as good as John, but equalling dad’s record of wins feels especially good.”

Rutter also continued to make progress on his RCV during race week, which saw him finish fifth in last Monday’s opening Superbike TT, with a fastest lap of 129.57mph, which he raised to 130.40mph on his way to a seventh-place finish in Friday’s six-lap Senior TT.

As with all other riders, track time was limited during practice week due to rain and mist over the mountain, which would have been valuable for gaining further understanding of the Honda.

Nonetheless, after a record-breaking pitstop by his crew Alec Tague, Warren Bardsley and Graham Ward, he had begun lap three in fourth position but when the race was red-flagged following the tragic death of 27-year-old Daley Mathison, the results from the end of lap two stood.

For the senior race, the team made more adjustments to the electronics of the bike, which took Rutter a couple of laps to adjust to.

Two more lightening pitstops by the pit crew, with a best of 52.9 seconds, kept Rutter comfortably in the top 10 and he went on to finish seventh.

“The RCV is a joy to ride round here, and it’s great to see the fans love it too,” said Rutter.

“Every time I ride it, we learn more about it. There’s so much that we can do with it, but the one thing we needed for it, we didn’t get – time.

“Having said that, fifth and seventh on it at our first time here with it is fantastic.

“I’m over the moon with the results and I’ve got to make a special mention to the guys doing my pit stop.”

“They were by far the fastest in the whole pit lane. I reckon they saved me around 10 or 12 seconds over both pitstops against the guys at the front.

“Now we’ll take the RCV back to the workshop, give it a clean and decide what to do with it next, but the priority now is getting back at the sharp end of the British Superstock Championship on our BMWs.During an extremely busy Thursday, when five TTs were raced in a single day due to the conditions and cancellations, Rutter also came sixth in the shortened three-lap superstock, with a best lap of 129.9mph, and fifth in the two-lap lightweight, clocking at 120.96mph.

“We had fitted the new K-Tech rear shock in my superstock bike for the BSB championship, and it made an instant improvement to the bike there,” added Rutter.

“It was so nice to ride and controlled over the bumps. Finishing just six seconds behind Connor Cummins in fifth place, and 15 seconds behind Michael Dunlop on the latest generation BMW, is an achievement all the team can be proud of.”

Rutter, who won the Lightweight TT in 2017, said his clutch was slipping when in top gear, which hampered any chances of taking another podium. “To end up so close to the podium in the middle of a really close finishing order was great,” he said. “Just 26 seconds covered three position down to eighth.”

Rutter and the entire Bathams Racing said although they had enjoyed a wonderful TT, the team, which return to BSB action this weekend, wished to express their sincere condolences to Daley Mathison’s family and friends.

The statement added: “As well as being a rising star of the sport that he and the rest of us all love, he was a talented and tough competitor who we admired and respected.”