Rutter pleased to end bizarre campaign on a high

Rutter ensured he competed in a 31st-straight year of motorbike racing all whilst paying a stunning tribute to his father, Tony, who had passed away earlier in the year.

During a year like no other, Black Country-based Bathams Racing was placed in some seriously difficult situations but the team managed to come out the other side and even has some exciting plans already lined up for 2021.

In any normal year, Bridgnorth's Rutter would be preparing to fly out to race at the end-of-season Macau GP, a road race he was won a record nine times.

But like most road races in 2020, it has been cancelled. And the decision marked the end of a bizarre 2020 campaign, which had looked so promising before coronavirus swept across the world.

"We were 100 per cent ready to go before everything started being called off," said Rutter.

"The plan had been to do the North West 200 with Richard Cooper, with me doing the Isle of Man TT and Macau GP.

"Coops was also going to do a full National Superstock 1000 campaign with competing in about half of the races.

"We had four bikes built and we were probably in the best position, as a team, we'd ever been in.

"It was so upsetting just seeing the bikes sat there unable to do anything once everything had been called off or postponed."

Bathams Racing had secured the signature of Cooper, the 2019 National Superstock 1000 champion, during the closed season.

But as soon as the flag dropped for the first race, after months of no action due to lockdown, things started to go wrong.

"When the season started Coops was on holiday in Spain as the Government made the announcement anyone returning from that country would have to quarantine," said Rutter.

"It meant he missed the first main BSB practice sessions, so instead I rode the bike but straight away I was not happy with it.

"We'd had a few upgrades from BMW, because we were the official BMW Motorrad team, but we found the bikes were really lacking on speed.

"We had some good data but the electrics are so advanced now. It's like having an iPhone – once the electrics have been updated you can't get back the previous settings.

"The first race came and we really struggled – and then pretty much everything that could go wrong did go wrong.

"Someone missed a gear in front of Coops and he hit the bike in front of him. He ended up with a really badly broken leg, which put him out for the season.

"It was horrendous to see and left us with a written off bike and an injured rider."

With Cooper out for at least the rest of the season, Bathams Racing managed to secure proven BSB rider Dan Linfoot for the rest of the year.

"We had lots of interest about taking Richard's place while he recovered but for the rest of the year we struggled, to be honest.

"After a while, me and my mechanic, Alec, decided to go testing to try and solve the issue once and for all.

"We went to an airfield and I just did lap after lap to work out the problem and when we came back Dan managed to get a second – and very nearly won the final race.

"I also entered that race. I'd been watching from the sidelines and just saw how competitive the championship had become.

"I'd not ridden all year but I'm glad I did because I managed to get in the top 20, which was my aim."

However, the real reason for Rutter entering the race was to pay special to his father, Tony, a multiple world champion and TT winner, who died aged 78.

BMW allowed Rutter to change his usual Bathams Racing colours into the iconic Ducati livery his father was so fond of racing in during this stellar 22-year career.

"It was also nice to do a tribute to dad and it meant I'd raced for a 31st-straight year, so it was nice to keep that record up too," said Rutter.

"Having not raced, it was amazing how much I felt it in my muscles and I also started to get arm-pump, which I hardly ever get, but I'll be giving it another go next year too.

"I'll be back at the North West and TT, but we'll see about the circuit racing.

"Next year probably won't be as bad for likes of me, or even John McGuinness, because of how many years we've been racing on the roads.

"For some of the others, especially the newcomers or those who have only raced for a couple of years, it's going to be quite a big adjustment to race somewhere like the TT again.

"And a lot of what we do next year will also come down the sponsorship.

"It's been so hard for a lot of people and the first thing to go for a business is usually sponsorship.

"We're very lucky to have Bathams as our main sponsor, which does put us in a better position that a lot of teams, but the smaller sponsors also make a huge difference throughout the year.

"They keep it all ticking over but we'll also still be the official BMW Mototrrad team for 2021, which means we'll be starting again with brand new bikes and electronics.

"We're all still learning, especially me because I'm still more of a racer than a team boss, and we've made a lot of mistakes but it's a big learning curve for everyone.

"What I have learned is not to take things for granted, especially when it comes to electronics, because the technology is always moving so fast.

"You've got to keep testing all the time to make sure the set up is right, but we'll certainly be back for more in 2021."