Michael Karl Rutter (born 18 April 1972 in

Wordsley Wordsley is a suburban area of Stourbridge in the West Midlands, England. It is part of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley and falls into the Stourbridge (DY8) postcode and address area, being just north of the River Stour. Wordsley is part of the ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

) nicknamed "The Blade", is a British

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...

racer. He currently races in the National Superstock 1000 Championship aboard a

BMW S1000RR BMW S1000RR is a race oriented sport bike initially made by BMW Motorrad to compete in the 2009 Superbike World Championship, that is now in commercial production. It was introduced in Munich in April 2008, and is powered by a four-cylinder eng ...

. He has a reputation for being at his best in wet conditions and his favourite circuit is

Oulton Park Oulton Park is a hard surfaced track used for motor racing, close to the village of Little Budworth, Cheshire, England. It is about from Winsford, from Chester city centre, from Northwich and from Warrington, with a nearby rail connection a ...

. He won 29

British Superbike Championship The British Superbike Championship (BSB), currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Bennetts British Superbike Championship, is the leading road racing superbike championship in the United Kingdom, and was once widely acknowledged as the p ...

races with the most recent being at

Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is about from Towcester on the former A43 main road, from the M1 motorway junction 15A and about from the M40 motorway junction 10, Northampton, Milton Keynes and B ...

in 2010, and finished as series runner-up twice. He has also contested

MotoGP Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the premier class of motorcycle road racing events held on road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held since the start ...

and

World Superbike Championship Superbike World Championship (also known as WorldSBK, SBK, World Superbike, WSB, or WSBK) is a silhouette-class road racing series based on heavily modified production motorcycles, also known as superbike racing. The championship was founded in ...

events. During 2015, Rutter was a temporary replacement rider for Gearlink Kawasaki in BSB, but mainly concentrated on selected road events backed by his personal sponsor Batham's brewery, having lost his 2014-ride on a Bathams IWR BMW partway through the season.

Personal

Michael Rutter's father,

Tony Rutter Tony Rutter (24 September 1941 – 24 March 2020) was a British professional motorcycle road racer. He was a street circuit specialist, who won seven Isle of Man TT Races between 1973 and 1985. Racing career Rutter competed in the Grand Prix ...

, was a successful motorcycle racer in the 1970s, winning 7

Isle of Man TT The Isle of Man TT or Tourist Trophy races are an annual motorcycle racing event run on the Isle of Man in May/June of most years since its inaugural race in 1907. The event is often called one of the most dangerous racing events in the world ...

races, and four times world champion in the TT Formula Two series. Michael lives in Bridgnorth, Shropshire.

Career

Rutter raced trials in his teens and began circuit racing in 1989. His first full season in the

British Superbike The British Superbike Championship (BSB), currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Bennetts British Superbike Championship, is the leading road racing superbike championship in the United Kingdom, and was once widely acknowledged as the p ...

Championship was 1993; he finished 8th overall and also made his first four

starts that year. He finished in the overall BSB top six every year from 1994 to 1998, coming in third overall in 1997. His win at

Donington Park Donington Park is a motorsport circuit located near Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England. The circuit business is now owned by Jonathan Palmer's MotorSport Vision organisation, and the surrounding Donington Park Estate, still owned b ...

in the wet in 1995 broke the duopoly of

Steve Hislop Robert Steven Hislop (11 January 1962 – 30 July 2003) was a Scottish motorcycle racer. Hislop won at the Isle of Man TT eleven times, won the British 250cc Championship (1990) and British Superbike championship (1995 and 2002). Hislop di ...

and

Jamie Whitham James Michael "Jamie" Whitham (born 6 September 1966), is an English former professional motorcycle road racer. He raced in most major British and international championships, winning the British championship twice. The readers of Motorcycle N ...

. His first World Superbike podium came at the same circuit in 1997. He won at

and Donington in 1998. Tellingly, each of these standout results was achieved in wet conditions. He spent

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

in the

500cc Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the premier class of motorcycle road racing events held on road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held since the start ...

World Championship, scoring occasional points but not being among the front runners. He returned to the domestic series for 2000 on a Ray Stringer private Yamaha. Again, a wet race provided his only victory. Still, his

road racing Road racing is a form of motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held either on a closed circuit or on a street circuit utilizing temporarily closed public roads. Originally, road races were held almost entirely on publ ...

results dwarfed what he managed on track. After a solid 2001, Rutter came second to Steve Hislop in 2002 with the renegade Ducati team, including eight wins and five poles. He was third for the team in 2003, this time dwarfed by Shane Byrne. He spent 2004 and 2005 with the factory

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...

team. In 2004 he was never off the front row and took 11 podiums in the first 12 races, but a midseason run of 6 non-podiums gave

Suzuki is a Japan, Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Minami-ku, Hamamatsu, Japan. Suzuki manufactures automobiles, motorcycles, All-terrain vehicle, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), outboard motor, outboard marine engines, wheelchairs ...

's John Reynolds the title. In 2005 Honda team-mate

Ryuichi Kiyonari (born September 23, 1982 in Saitama, Japan) is a professional motorcycle road racer. He previously rode a Honda CBR1000RR in the MFJ All-Japan Road Race JSB1000 Championship. He was the 2006, 2007 and 2010 British Superbike champion and en ...

had the better of Rutter, who came 3rd overall and lost the ride for 2006. For 2006 he rejoined his former

Monstermob Monstermob ltd was a UK mobile content company selling ringtones, wallpapers, games and full length tracks. Operating between 2000 and 2007 it was owned by Monstermob Group plc, which owned similar companies across the globe. History The compa ...

boss Paul Bird, now running semi-works Hondas with

Eddie Stobart Edward Pears Stobart (born 18 April 1929), better known as Eddie Stobart, is a British businessman who started an agriculture business in the late 1940s. This became ''Eddie Stobart Ltd'' in 1970 and expanded to a haulage company during the 19 ...

funding. He finished third first time out, but only repeated this feat once more throughout the season, finishing seventh overall and losing the ride after the 2006 season. For 2007, Rutter was the sole rider for the MSS Discovery Kawasaki squad, which moved up from British Supersport to contest British Superbikes for the second time (the first was with Julien da Costa in 2005). This was his least successful BSB season ever, as the Kawasaki was not a competitive bike. Michael Rutter competed in the 2008 British Superbike Championship on a "

North West 200 The International North West 200 is a Northern Irish motorsport event established in 1929 for road racing motorcycles held on a street circuit known as ''the Triangle'' between the towns of Portstewart, Coleraine and Portrush in Causeway Coast ...

" branded Ducati SBK RS08, a team entered to promote this famed road racing event in Northern Ireland. He finished 6th overall with a single win, and made his 300th BSB start at the final meeting of the year. In 2009 Rutter rode for Rob Mac Racing Yamaha. The partnership was comparatively short-lived with Rutter leaving the team in May 2009. Rutter raced various machines for the rest of the season, with little success. For 2010 Rutter took his Bathams Brewery sponsorship to the Ridersmotorcycles.com team, partnering Martin Jessopp on their Ducatis. He scored the team's first win at Knockhill, in wet conditions. He also led race two at

Snetterton Snetterton is a village and civil parish in Norfolk, England. The village is about east-northeast of Thetford and southwest of Norwich. The civil parish has an area of . The United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census recorded a parish population o ...

, but was stopped by a broken gear lever. He took pole at the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit, and was leading race one when it was stopped for rain, ultimately coming second to

Alastair Seeley Alastair Seeley (born 4 October 1979 in Carrickfergus) is a motorcycle road racer. During 2021, he competed in Northern Ireland, winning the Ulster Superbike and Supersport Championships. At the close of North West 200 racing on 14 May 2022, ...

Real road racing

Rutter is also a

rider, having won 14 times at the

festival in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. He has 7 wins at the

races, 5 of which were in the

TT Zero TT Zero – an electric motorsport event introduced for the 2010 Isle of Man TT races – replaced the similar TTXGP race as a 1-lap (37.733 miles) circuit of the Snaefell Mountain Course. The TT Zero event as an officially sanctioned Isle of M ...

class.

Macau Grand Prix

He holds the record of most wins at the

Macau Grand Prix The Macau Grand Prix ( pt, Grande Prémio de Macau; ) is a motorsport road race for automobiles and motorcycles held annually in Macau. It is the only street circuit racing event in which both cars and motorcycles participate, and one of onl ...

. In November 2018, Rutter came second, riding a

Honda RC213V The Honda RC213V is a Japanese motorcycle developed for road racing by Honda Racing Corporation to compete in the MotoGP series from the 2012 season and onwards. Rules for 2012 allowed motorcycles up to in capacity, with a limit of 4 cylinders ...

provided by his new sponsor, Faye Ho, granddaughter of Macau-based businessman

Stanley Ho Stanley Ho Hung-sun (; 25 November 192126 May 2020) was a Hong Kong-Macau billionaire businessman. His original patrilineal surname was Bosman, which was later sinicized to 何 (Ho). He was the founder and chairman of SJM Holdings, which owns ...

. The race was won by

Peter Hickman Peter John Hickman (born 8 April 1987 in Burton-upon-Trent) is an English professional motorcycle racer and business owner for preparation of racing machines. For 2021, he competed in the British Superbike Championship class aboard a BMW M1 ...

on his usual Smith's

, but also sponsored for the event by Ho's business, Aspire-Ho.

Isle of Man

On 4 June 2012 Michael Rutter became the first person to lap the Isle of Man Mountain Course at over 100 mph on an electric motorcycle. His lap time was 22 min 05.05 sec (average speed 102.50 mph) however he did not win the £10,000 prize for this feat as the time was set in a practice session and not in a race. In the previous year's TT Zero race he had narrowly missed out on the prize with a lap at an average speed of 99.604 mph. On 6 June Michael Rutter broke the 100 mph barrier in the TT Zero race winning with a lap time of 21:45.33, averaging 104.056 mph.

Career Record

Road Racing

1995 *2nd North West 200 1996 *1st North West 200 *3rd IOM Formula One TT 1997 *2nd IOM Formula One TT *3rd IOM Junior TT 1998 *1st

Macau GP The Macau Grand Prix ( pt, Grande Prémio de Macau; ) is a motorsport road race for automobiles and motorcycles held annually in Macau. It is the only street circuit racing event in which both cars and motorcycles participate, and one of on ...

*1st

*1st IOM Junior TT *2nd IOM Formula One TT 2000 *2nd IOM Formula One TT *2nd IOM Senior TT *3rd IOM Production 1000 TT *1st Macau GP (Formula One) *1st Macau GP (Senior) *1st North West 200 *1st North West 200 *1st North West 200 2002 *1st Macau GP 2003 *1st North West 200 *1st Macau GP 2004 *1st North West 200 *1st Macau GP 2005 *1st North West 200 *1st Macau GP 2006 *2nd North West 200 *2nd Macau GP 2008 *1st North West 200 *2nd Macau GP 2011 *1st IOM TT Zero *1st Macau GP 2012 *1st IOM TT Zero *3rd IOM TT Supertwins *1st Macau GP 2013 *1st IOM TT Zero 2015 *3rd IOM TT Supertwins 2017 *2nd NW200 Supertwin 1 *2nd NW200 Superbike 1 *1st NW200 Supertwin 2 *3rd NW200 Superstock 2 *1st IOM TT Supertwin 2018 *1st IOM TT Zero *3rd IOM TT Supertwin *2nd Macau GP

Circuit Racing

1991 *3rd Superteen Championship 1992 *3rd National 250GP Championship *First Superbike Race 1993 *7th British Superbike Championship 1994 *6th British Superbike Championship 1995 *5th British Superbike Championship 1996 *4th British Superbike Championship 1997 *3rd British Superbike Championship *3rd World Superbike race at Brands Hatch 1998 *6th British Superbike Championship 1999 *World 500 GP Championship (best 11th) 2000 *9th British Superbike Championship 2001 *6th British Superbike Championship 2002 *2nd British Superbike Championship 2003 *3rd British Superbike Championship 2004 *2nd British Superbike Championship 2005 *3rd British Superbike Championship 2006 *7th British Superbike Championship 2007 *12th British Superbike Championship 2008 *6th British Superbike Championship 2009 *16th British Superbike Championship 2010 *5th British Superbike Championship 2011 *8th British Superbike Championship 2012 *19th British Superbike Championship 2013 *18th British Superbike Championship 2014 *18th British Superbike Championship 2015 *31st British Superbike Championship 2016 *4th National Superstock 1000 Championship

British Superbike Championship

:1. – Rutter qualified for "The Showdown" part of the BSB season, thus before the

Croft Croft may refer to: Occupations * Croft (land), a small area of land, often with a crofter's dwelling * Crofting, small-scale food production * Bleachfield, an open space used for the bleaching of fabric, also called a croft Locations In the Uni ...

round he was awarded 500 points plus the podium credits he had gained throughout the season. Podium credits are given to anyone finishing 1st, 2nd or 3rd, with 3,2 and 1 points awarded respectively. :2. –

Josh Brookes Joshua Brookes (born 28 April 1983 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia) is a professional motorcycle road racing, road racer with experience of Superbike and Supersport racing, both domestically and internationally. In 2020, he raced in the ...

collided with Rutter, causing Rutter to suffer broken ribs and miss the following 4 races.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rutter, Michael 1973 births Living people Rutter, Tony Rutter, Tony British motorcycle racers English motorcycle racers British Superbike Championship riders 500cc World Championship riders Superbike World Championship riders