Ian Hutchinson Takes Pole Position for Macau GP

The Macau GP is this weekend, and it is already shaping up to be a great event after today’s qualifying. Normally this is a race that Michael Rutter dominates (the Brit has eight Macau GP race wins to his name), but this year sees a new name on the leaderboard at the conclusion of the two qualifying sessions: Ian Hutchinson.

The only man to ever win all five solo races at the Isle of Man TT, Hutchinson was all the talk in 2010, but the Bingly man has seen his last two seasons hampered with tough recoveries from leg injuries.

Though finally healthy, many were beginning to wonder if Hutchy had lost his pace on a motorbike — his performance today on the Milwaukee Yamaha YZF-R1 has ended that talk though.

Hutchinson grabbed the pole in the final laps of the second qualifying, after pulling in at the beginning of the session to undo some changes his team had made to the bike in the hopes of getting some better steering on the tight road circuit.

The time in the pits, and the mechanical revisions, paid off though, as Hutchinson took pole by a narrow 0.057 seconds from Rutter. The pair will be the ones to watch come tomorrow’s race.

A previous race winner, John McGuinness could also be in the mix on his Honda TT Legends bike. Though, Mr. McPint finished nearly two seconds back from the front pair.

American’s Mark Miller (20th) and Brandon Cretu (32nd) are also at Macau, and will be racing on two EBR 1190RS race bikes, which are being supported by Erik Buell Racing mechanics from the AMA Pro Racing series.

Miller could not improve upon his position, though made big steps with his lap times. Meanwhile his teammate Cretu had mechanical issue with his 1190RS, which kept him off the track for the latter part of the second qualifying.

Qualifying Results for the 2013 Macau GP:

Source: Macau GP; Photo: © 2013 CGPM / Macau GP – All Rights Reserved