Rutter to ride Worx Suzuki at Thruxton

Michael Rutter will ride injured Sylvain Guintoli’s Worx Suzuki at Thruxton this weekend.

Ruter said: “I’m sorry that Sylvain’s hurt but I’m absolutely peaking at the chance of getting a BSB ride with the Crescent team on a such a well-sorted bike.

“It’s a one race deal and the team has said we’ll take it from there. That’s understandable. They’ll want to see how I perform before committing to anything else.”

Guintoli is out for eight to ten weeks after breaking his leg at Donington in a crash during the sighting lap on Bank Holiday Monday. HM Plant Honda rider Josh Brookes has since been given a one-race ban, suspended for three meetings, for causing the accident at the Melbourne Loop.

Thruxton, because it’s so fast and also so bumpy, is regarded as one of the toughest tracks in BSB to set a bike up for. And for Rutter, having no prior experience of the Worx bike, the problem is even more acute. Not that he’s letting that worry him.

“I’ve not even thought about that, to be honest,” he admitted. “I’m just happy to be riding. Thruxton is a special track. It is very fast but I like the fast tracks and I’m just going there, knowing I’ve got to be up there.”

For Rutter it’s a hectic time as he prepares the Bathams Brewery-backed  GSX-R1000 he bought only last week  for the TT as a fully-prepared race bike from Crescent Suzuki.

In fact, Rutter got the Worx Suzuki BSB call-up just after picking up the Bathams van he’s borrowing to transport Crescent-built to the Island.

“Originally I was booked to go out to the Island today but we’re not quite ready so I changed my sailing to Friday. Now I’ve got to change it to next week. It means I’ll miss the first practice session but the BSB ride has to take priority. It’s strange thought isn’t it? Everything comes at once. But I’m not complaining.”