Riders BMW’s Martin Jessopp bagged pole position for Saturday’s 62nd Macau Grand Prix with a succession of murderously fast laps which ended in a 2’24.387 that no-one could get close to, not even veteran rider Michael Rutter who ended in second place 1.137s behind the Bridgwater man on a 2’25.524.
S1000RR-mounted Jessopp was the only man to break the 2’25s barrier and is less than a second off Stuart Easton’s lap record of 2’23.616 set in 2010. Jessopp started the session quickly after it was red-flagged early on when Tom McHale went down hard at the fast Mandarin corner, immediately diving under the 2’28s with a 2’27.206 on only his second lap.
Then he upped his game to a 2’25.371 which gave Jessopp a two-second advantage over Rutter whose best at that point was a 2’27.402. With 16 minutes left, Jessopp then stuck in a 2’24.802 and sealed the deal with his fastest lap of the weekend. He did set a fastest sector one time a lap later but got caught behind Horst Saiger and aborted.
Rutter didn’t have second place all his own way, however. He was knocked back to third by Penz13.com BMW team-mate Gary Johnson with 14 minutes left as the Linconshireman put in a 2’26.879 before Rutter clawed his way back. But Johnson fell victim to the Briggs BMW of Peter Hickman, who shot into third place with nine minutes left, putting a 2’26.700.
Johnson was then pushed back another place buy 2013 winner Ian Hutchinson, who went into fourth with a lap just 0.091s slower than Hickman’s to give the PBM Kawasaki team a fighting chance. Yesterday’s fastest man John McGuinness, who is using his Isle of Man TT Fireblades, had to settle for sixth on a 2’26.810 after towing team-mate Conor Cummins around to seventh, one behind Johnson.
Saiger ended his qualifying session in eighth on a 2’27.953 while reigning champ Easton hauled his SMT Yamaha R1 into ninth late on. Lee Johnston completed the top ten.
McHale suffered fractures and has been taken to hospital but it talking to medics.
