Macau GP – Michael Rutter declared winner… after one lap of racing
Macau GP organisers opt against rescheduling the motorcycle race for Sunday meaning Michael Rutter wins for a record ninth time on countback
Michael Rutter has clinched a record ninth Macau GP victory after he was declared the winner despite only leading a single lap of the twice interrupted race.
In a bizarre outcome to an event that was otherwise dominated by Peter Hickman, Rutter claimed the spoils on countback of the second restart, which was halted after little more than a lap because he was leading at the end of lap one.
This is despite Hickman on the Bathams BMW dominating the first start by more than seven seconds and leading on the second restart at the time of the red flag.
Indeed, Hickman looked to be on course for a clear win as he opened up a huge lead from pole position in just four laps, but a red flag to clear the crashed bikes of Rob Hodson and Marek Cerveny meant the race resumed some time later from a standing start.
This time, however, Rutter on the sister Bathams Honda RC213V got the better getaway with Hickman trailing him around the opening lap before passing under brakes for Lisboa.
However, the race lasted only a few more corners when a six-rider pile-up involving Emo Kostamo, Derek Shiels, Didier Grams, Michael Sweeney, Philip Crowe and Dan Kruger brought out the red flags for a second time.
With fading light preventing the race from being restarted on Saturday and officials deciding against rescheduling for Sunday, the order at the end of lap one was instead taken as the race result, meaning Rutter is declared the winner from the unlucky Hickman and David Johnson on the PBM Ducati.
Lee Johnston and Davey Todd completed the top five.
Of the riders involved in the aforementioned crashes, Kostamo, Kruger and Shiels were taken to hospital with the latter two later discharged. Kostamo remains in hospital to undergo surgery but is in a stable condition.
