Rutter dominates Donington BSB test

Michael Rutter set himself up as the hot favourite for this year’s BSB title with a blistering first test on the Red Bull factory Ducati at Donington on Sunday.

Using his ex-Bayliss F02 V-twin he set the fastest time of 1:08.79, four-tenths of a second inside James Haydon’s 2000 lap record.

Rutter said: ” The differences of the new bike are like night and day compared to last year’s Testastretta. It’s a much nicer bike to ride because it has so much more mid-range power. ”

Emmett ended tenth quickest, with a 1:10.70. He said: ” My bike felt raked right out – like a chopper – but we didn’t have the time to pull it back. The bikes arrived so late it was just a case of using the test to get a feel for it. ”

Two of the Renegade team drove around the clock to ensure the bikes were at the test, leaving for Italy on Wednesday, completing an intensive F02 maintenance course at the Bologna factory, before delivering the bikes to the Donington paddock at 11pm the night before Sunday’s test.

MonsterMob’s Shane Byrne was third quickest with a 1:09.30 in his fourth test on the factory F02 Ducati.

John Reynolds split the Ducatis with a 1:09.00 on his Rizla Suzuki – the second best time of the day, while Yukio Kagayama posted fifth fastest at 1:09.66.

Steve Plater was fourth overall, clocking 1:09.49 on Colin Edwards WSB title-winning Honda SP2.

He said: ” I’ve never been so tense. I ended up pulling off to chill out for a few minutes. ”

Defending BSB champion Steve Hislop still has some work to do to get up to speed on his Virgin Yamaha R1. He wound up sixth overall, with a 1:09.96.

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