Rutter salvages fifth place from Croft weekend

Michael Rutter finished fifth in the second race at Croft on Sunday in the first round of the Showdown for the BSB title and remains fifth in the championship with two round remaining.

But it was a difficult weekend for the RidersMotorcycles.com Ducati star. He was running third in the first race and closing in on second-placed Michael Laverty, when he tipped off at slow speed in the Hairpin.

Rutter said: "I'm entirely to blame. I started to close in on Michael and was trying to bridge the gap even more before we got onto the start finish straight. But I lost the front on the brakes. It started to slide and I thought I'd saved it but down it went and that was it."

Rutter's RidersMotorcycles.com Ducati worked superbly around the entire track apart from the slow-speed exit of the Hairpin so it was absolutely vital he pushed hard everywhere else to compensate.

"The problem was that we lack anti-wheelie control with our bike so I can just pin it like everyone else coming out of the Hairpin. It's simply not available to us with this machine so we're really struggling to match the four-cylinder bikes for speed down the straight," he said.

In the second race Rutter battled his way to fifth place and remains in contention for the title - 49 points down on series leader Tommy Hill.

Rutter said: "We had some grip issues mid-race. I knew I'd only have so many laps to pass people before it happened and then I got beaten up in the final corner of the race when Kiyonari pushed me wide.

"But we've got Silverstone next in two weeks time and I'm really looking forward to it because it's fast and flowing course and I think that's going to suit our bike a lot more."