Chasing a record, six-time Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix Champion Michael Rutter topped the first qualifying round and trumped his 2005 qualifying time by 2.591-seconds, 2.204-seconds in front of his teammate Ian Hutchinson followed by Steve Plater in third, American Jeremy Toye in fourth and John McGuinness rounding out the top five. “I feel good, thing’s flowing, the bike is f–king fast. The Lee’s Cycle motor is the key to that lap for sure,” said Toye. “Even my fastest lap, I was still through traffic, three people passed on that lap and I probably would have gotten at least a couple more 10ths out of it; so I feel good. I know I can get out there and run with those guys. I really want to put an American up on the box again this year.” The other two Team USA riders didn’t fair as well as Toye. KWS Racing’s John Haner wasn’t able to turn a fast qualifying lap after a braking issue sidelined him for more than half the session. “We’re having issues with the front brake system and don’t exactly know what’s going on,” said Haner. “They worked on the bike for about 35-minutes of the 45-minute session. We got six good laps in and they weren’t nearly good enough.” And after encountering front braking problems in free practice, Mark Miller swapped out his rotors and pads, but continued to suffer brake fade during qualifying. “I’m just getting up to speed, but the brakes aren’t working still,” said Miller, who was only able to turn six laps before qualifying. “It’s coming together, I’ve never ridden on these Pirelli tires before, these 17-inch Pirellis before. It’s a total different bike than I’m used to. It would have been nice to have a test before I came here, but we’ll sort it out.” The second qualifying and only on track session for the riders will be Friday morning, with the 40th Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix scheduled for Saturday. 40th Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix Macau, China November 16, 2006 First Qualifying: 1. Michael Rutter (Hon CBR1000RR) 2:27.994 – Qualifying Record 2. Ian Hutchinson (Hon CBR1000RR) 2:30.198 3. Steve Plater (Yam YZF-R1) 2:30.738 4. Jeremy Toye (Suz GSX-R1000) 2:30.964 5. John McGuinness (Hon CBR1000RR) 2:31.189 6. Thomas Hinterreiter (Yam YZF-R1) 2:31.815 7. Guy Martin (Yam YZF-R1) 2:32.475 8. Stephen Thompson (Suz GSX-R1000) 2:32.499 9. Stuart Easton (Hon CBR1000RR) 2:33.234 10. Les Shand (Suz GSX-R1000) 2:34.166 11. Steve Allan (Kaw ZX-6RR) 2:34.557 12. Martin Finnegan (Hon CBR1000RR) 2:34.636 13. Frank Heidger (Suz GSX-R1000) 2:35.284 14. Keith Amor (Suz GSX-R1000) 2:36.099 15. John Haner (Suz GSX-R1000) 2:36.245 16. Mark Miller (Suz GSX-R1000) 2:37.791 17. Paul Hunt (Kaw ZX-10R) 2:38.514 18. Pete Jennings (Hon CBR1000RR) 2:38.516 19. James McBride (Hon CBR1000RR) 2:38.523 20. Callum Ramsay (Kaw ZX-6RR) 2:38.588 21. Rico Penzkofer (Yam YZF-R1) 2:38.612 22. Michael Weynand (Kaw ZX-10R) 2:38.636 23. Rui Reigoto Yam YZF-R1) 2:38.815 24. Ian Lougher (Hon CBR1000RR) 2:39.057 25. Sandor Bitter (Yam YZF-R1) 2:40.169 26. Gerarl Muteau (Suz GSX-R1000) 2:40.871 27. Cheung Wai On (Yam YZF-R6) 2:40.976 28. Jose Leite (Suz GSX-R1000) 2:41.044 29. Sou Se Hong (Hon CBR600RR) 2:43.139 30. Joao Fernandes (Suz GSX-R600) 2:43.220 31.Jason Broome (Suz GSX-R1000) 2:43.736 32. Luis Carreira (Hon CBR1000RR) 2:44.417 33. Craig Atkinson (Hon CBR600RR) 2:47.061 34. Andi Notman (Hon CBR600RR) 2:47.871 35. Wong Man Kwong (Suz GSX-R750) 2:54.312 36. Peter Edwards (Yam YZF-R6) 2:57.616 37. Chui Wai Kwong (Yam YZF-R6) 3:05.783 38. Leong Iok Choi (Yam YZF-R6) 3:45.531 More, from a press release issued by Stobart Honda: Rio Hotel Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix 40th Edition 16th to 18th November 2006 STOBART RIDERS FIRST AND SECOND IN MACAU Stobart Motorsport riders Michael Rutter and Ian Hutchinson made their intentions clear by posting first and second fastest times after today’s first qualifying session for the Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix. Aboard the Vent Axia and VK backed Honda Fireblade which he has campaigned all season in the British Superbike Championship, 33-year old Rutter came within a fraction of beating his own qualifying lap record as he topped the timesheets in the one-hour session earlier today as he aims to become the first man to win the Far East classic seven times A mammoth 2.2 seconds behind Rutter was Honda new boy, Ian Hutchinson, who is riding in Paul Bird’s colours for meeting. The Yorkshireman is making his debut on a superbike in Macau after claiming second place in the Supersport race around the 6.12km Guia circuit last year. Isle of Man TT lap record holder John McGuinness claimed fifth fastest on the third of the Stobart bikes, just three seconds down on Rutter with Scotsman Stuart Easton making in four riders in the top ten for Stobart team with a ninth place qualifying position. Michael Rutter “I’m happy with that and slotted straight back into the groove without any problems. We have a few small changes to make for tomorrow so that should improve my times also but I’m feeling confident. I’ll just go out on race tyres again and get a good set up for the race”. Ian Hutchinson “Over two seconds is a lot to make up on Michael but I’m pleased to be second fastest in what was a very busy session. The bike is fantastic and it was a real eye opener on a Superbike round here but I’m confident we can go faster.” John McGuinness “Fifth isn’t where I wanted to be today but there was so much traffic around, a fast lap was impossible. I overshot a corner on my quick lap and still ended up fifth so we need to get our finger out and take the fight to the other riders tomorrow.” Stuart Easton “After the season I’ve had, I guess ninth isn’t too bad but I’m sure I can improve tomorrow. Either way, I’m just glad to be back with a good team on a competitive bike on Dunlop tyres” Paul Bird “First and second isn’t a bad start and it will be good if we can maintain that through to the race. I’ve said to Michael that there’s little point in using qualifying tyres as he’s so far ahead and I’ve been impressed by Hutchy’s performance, he’s a real dark horse. John and Stuart have work to do but I’m confident they can improve” The final qualifying session takes place at 07.30hrs (local time) tomorrow with the race scheduled for 14.50hrs on Saturday.