Riders BMW’s Martin Jessopp gambled with a soft tyre for the 2015 Macau Grand Prix as he hoped he would be able to set off from pole and build enough of a gap that he could manage the wear and take his first win in the former Portugese colony.

But it wasn’t to be as Peter Hickman reeled in the Bridgwater man, passed him at Lisboa and went on to win as Jessopp’s rear didn’t have the grip to go with him. Jessopp ended in second but with a huge margin over third-placed man Michael Rutter, who has won at Macau a record eight times.

“We didn’t have too bad a start, a couple of guys got ahead of me and I knew I had to be in front at Lisboa. I knew I had the pace to break them and we gambled on a softer tyre,” said Jessopp, speaking at Macau.

“We didn’t know what anyone else was on but it was on the softer side. I tried to get away but everytime I had a sneaky look behind me at the hairpin, there was Pete. Then the tyre started to get worse and worse, I couldn’t hold him off. It wasn’t the result I was looking for but credit to Pete, he did an awesome job.”