STOBART MOTORSPORT 2005 BRITISH SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM
18 November 2005 - Stobart Honda

Stobart Motorsport rider John McGuinness will start tomorrow’s 39th Hotel Fortuna Macau Grand Prix from third position

There was only one qualifying session after today’s session was cancelled due to a number of accidents in the preceding WTCC car races which subsequently caused the timetable to overrun.

The 31 year old Morecambe racer posted a time of 2min 32.241secs, some 1.6 seconds behind five times winner and new Stobart Motorsport rider for 2006 Michael Rutter, and 0.7 seconds behind Austrian Thomas Hinterreiter.

“I’m a little bit disappointed to be over a second and a half behind Michael but I’m still getting used to the bike” said the 2001 winner for the Paul Bird Team. “I could have done with the extra track time for sure but we’ll see what the race brings. Whether or not we can win remains to be seen but I’m not settling for anything else than a podium” concluded McGuinness who has finished runner up to Rutter over the past three years.

Making his Macau debut, team mate Dennis Hobbs qualified in 19th position with Manxman Paul Hunt in 26th out of the 36 riders as again, both riders missed out on improving their times due to the cancellation of Qualifying 2.

Team boss Paul Bird was relatively pleased going into the race:

“John needs time on the bike and cancelling that qualifying didn’t help us at all but I know John and I know he’ll give it his best in the race. Dennis and Big H did well considering they hadn’t cocked a leg over the bike until they got here. But hat’s off to Rutter and I may be having a word with him and reminding him who’s paying his wages next year if he doesn’t slow down!” jested Bird.

Rutter, who signed for the Stobart Motorsport team prior to jetting out to the Far East, has won five Macau Motorcycle Grands Prix in the past seven years and could equal fellow Briton Ron Haslam’s tally of six victories in tomorrow’s 15-lap race which gets underway at 15.10 local time (23:10 GMT).

Qualifying – 39th Hotel Fortuna Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix

1 Michael RUTTER GBR Red Bull Honda 2:30.595

2 Thomas HINTERREITER AUT Austria Racing Team Yamaha 2:31.517

3 John MCGUINNESS GBR Stobart Motorsport Honda 2:32.241

4 Callum RAMSAY GBR Klaffi Honda (600cc) 2:33.839

5 Les SHAND GBR A.I.M. Racing Yamaha 2:34.132

6 Franky HEIDGER GER Betandwin Suzuki 2:34.188

7 Steve ALLAN GBR MSS Discovery Kawasaki (600cc) 2:34.251

8 John HANER USA Lees Cycle Racing Honda 2:34.591

9 Pere RIBA ESP MSS Discovery Kawasaki (600cc) 2:34.843

10 Ian LOUGHER GBR Slingshot Racing Honda 2:35.025

19 Dennis HOBBS GBR Stobart Motorsport Honda 2:36.705

26 Paul HUNT GBR Stobart Motorsport Honda 2:39.392

www.honda-racing.co.uk

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