PBM Ducati’s Glenn Irwin has drawn first blood in the opening 2017 Macau Grand Prix practice session, topping the timesheets by 1.430s from veteran Michael Rutter while Austrian Horst Saiger got a tow from the young Ulsterman to grab third place with his final lap.
Rutter, on the SMT Bathams MGM BMW, had been on top of the pile with a 22’7.452, set on his 12th lap as Irwin was making adjustments in his garage but then the Carrickfergus man went out for his final run. He was caught in traffic on the first two laps but then put down a 2’26.022 as the chequered flag was waving. That time is a second faster than the corresponding best from last year, set by Rutter.
Rutter and Irwin left pitlane together as soon as it opened and immediately swapped fastest laps and times in a little bit of sparring - even following each other down the escape road at Lisboa - before they separated and got down to business. Martin Jessopp occupied third early doors on his Riders BMW before he was deposed by the Briggs BMW of Gary Johnson.
Manxman Dan Kneen showed some early pace, claiming third with a 2’33.208 but he was some two seconds down on Rutter and Irwin but he kept on reducing his times as the 2015 and 2016 winner Peter Hickman staked his claim with a 2’32.868 but it wasn’t enough to do anything about Kneen who had upped his game to a 2’31.771.
Jessopp again challenged on the half-hour, lapping in 2’31.642 as Irwin stunned pitlane with his next lap, a 2’28.988 for top spot and then chopped it down by a tenth. Kneen leapt into second place with a 2’30.405 on his tenth lap as Derek Sheils claimed third with a 2’30.713.
Rutter came back out on to the track after comfort break and was held up a little by team-mate Hickman before the Lincolnshire rider waved him through. With 20 minutes left, Rutter was back in fourth with a 2’31.342 as Irwin again went faster, setting a 2’28.082.
Hickman’s 12th lap was good enough for second as he put in a 2’30.005 but Jessopp quickly put paid to that, bagging runner-up spot with a 2’29.877. Rutter found some space with eight minutes to go and went back into the lead with a 2’27.948 but it wasn’t enough to stop Irwin, who then scraped the 2’26s barrier and towed Saiger to third.
Sheils ended in fourth place with Kneen taking fifth. Jessopp ended in sixth place with Hickman down in seventh. Conor Cummins, Ivan Lintin and Gary Johnson completed the top ten as former Moto3 star Danny Webb, Didier Grams, Dean Harrison, David Johnson and Dan Cooper are the top 15.
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