Macau Motocycle Grand Prix - Spoilers
Discussion
Plater does it again, after beating Macau master Rutter last year he's repeated the feat again this time.
Crash.net said:
The 34-year-old British racer had a massive stroke of luck on the 15th and final lap of the event when he and rival John McGuinness, on the Stobart Vent Axia Honda, encountered two lapped riders at the Melco Hairpin.
McGuinness, winner of the race in 2001, had the consolation of setting a new lap record for the event at 2min 26.096secs (150.80kph). Plater was able to pass them and pull away to win by over four seconds on the AIM Racing Yamaha 1000, while McGuinness who was baulked by the two riders having their own private battle could only watch as Plater pulled away.
There was even greater disappointment for Michael Rutter, looking for a record-breaking seventh win in the race, who did not even have the consolation of a podium finish.
The Kawasaki star was forced to take to the slip road at the 90 degree Lisboa corner three laps from the end when Austrian rival Thomas Hinterreiter (Austria Racing Team Yamaha 1000) rode side-by-side with him towards the turn. American Jeremy Toye (Lee's Cycles Racing Suzuki 1000) had his best ever finish in Macau by taking fourth place but well over 30 seconds behind the top three. Manxman Conor Cummins, the youngest rider in the race at 21 years-of-age, was fifth home. Steve Allan, the 33-year-old from Perth, Scotland, was winner of the 600 Class for the third year in a row, on the AIM Racing Yamaha 600. He beat German Rico Penzkofer (Austria Racing Team Yamaha 600) by over 12 seconds. Another Scottish racer Callum Ramsay (Solent Scientific Honda 600) was third.
McGuinness, winner of the race in 2001, had the consolation of setting a new lap record for the event at 2min 26.096secs (150.80kph). Plater was able to pass them and pull away to win by over four seconds on the AIM Racing Yamaha 1000, while McGuinness who was baulked by the two riders having their own private battle could only watch as Plater pulled away.
There was even greater disappointment for Michael Rutter, looking for a record-breaking seventh win in the race, who did not even have the consolation of a podium finish.
The Kawasaki star was forced to take to the slip road at the 90 degree Lisboa corner three laps from the end when Austrian rival Thomas Hinterreiter (Austria Racing Team Yamaha 1000) rode side-by-side with him towards the turn. American Jeremy Toye (Lee's Cycles Racing Suzuki 1000) had his best ever finish in Macau by taking fourth place but well over 30 seconds behind the top three. Manxman Conor Cummins, the youngest rider in the race at 21 years-of-age, was fifth home. Steve Allan, the 33-year-old from Perth, Scotland, was winner of the 600 Class for the third year in a row, on the AIM Racing Yamaha 600. He beat German Rico Penzkofer (Austria Racing Team Yamaha 600) by over 12 seconds. Another Scottish racer Callum Ramsay (Solent Scientific Honda 600) was third.
No race footage yet but here's some from practice - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnpIOfNFaJw
Steve Plater was acclaimed King of Macau after winning the Macau Grand Prix for the second year in succession. His AIM teammate Steve Allan won the Supersport 600 class, making it a double celebration for the team who has gone into the record books as the first team to win both the Superbike and Supersport races at the same time.
Plater, from Woodhall Spa in Lincolnshire had completed first qualifying on provisional pole but was forced out of the final session on Friday with a misfire to the AIM Yamaha R1. Although he was unable to post a competitive time in the final session, his previous time was sufficient to claim fourth place on the grid for Saturday’s 15-lap race.
“I was under the lap record in morning warm-up,” said Plater. “And knew I could lap quicker in the race once half the fuel load had gone so am feeling confident. As long as the misfire doesn’t return I should be there or thereabouts and although I don’t like to make predictions about the result, if I don’t win today then whoever does will have to earn it!!”
As the lights heralded the start it was John McGuinness who got the hole shot but Plater was quick to anticipate the lights and moved straight into third place before passing Michael Rutter at the fast Mandarin corner and then attacked McGuinness for the race lead.
“I didn’t want John to take charge of the race,” said Plater. “So I passed him at San Francisco Hill and was able to control the pace from then on.”
Lap two saw McGuinness regain the lead and the pair began to pull away from the pursuing pack. But Plater used every inch of the track in an effort to stick with the multi-TT winner and forged back ahead at the hairpin on lap three.
“I put in three very fast laps, all a second under the existing record but John stuck with me,” said the 35-year-old race ace.
Steve held onto his slender lead for the remainder of the race, the gap between himself and McGuinness remaining under a second. But on the final lap the pair encountered some backmarkers as they approached the hairpin. Plater timed it to perfection, attacking the backmarkers at just the right place and shot past and onto the finish where he took the chequered flag for his second win in as many years with a four second advantage over McGuinness.
“I knew we'd come across back markers at the end so prepared to attack in
the right places leaving me a gap at the end and it worked to perfection,” said a jubilant Steve Plater. “I suffered with arm pump throughout the race due to my injuries from Qatar last week, which made it very hard to feel the throttle and front brake lever. But I managed to relax wherever possible so I remained strong till the end.
“This is a mega end to season for me and also for AIM and Yamaha who have won both the Superbike and Supersport classes, which I think is the first time a team has won both!”
Plater, from Woodhall Spa in Lincolnshire had completed first qualifying on provisional pole but was forced out of the final session on Friday with a misfire to the AIM Yamaha R1. Although he was unable to post a competitive time in the final session, his previous time was sufficient to claim fourth place on the grid for Saturday’s 15-lap race.
“I was under the lap record in morning warm-up,” said Plater. “And knew I could lap quicker in the race once half the fuel load had gone so am feeling confident. As long as the misfire doesn’t return I should be there or thereabouts and although I don’t like to make predictions about the result, if I don’t win today then whoever does will have to earn it!!”
As the lights heralded the start it was John McGuinness who got the hole shot but Plater was quick to anticipate the lights and moved straight into third place before passing Michael Rutter at the fast Mandarin corner and then attacked McGuinness for the race lead.
“I didn’t want John to take charge of the race,” said Plater. “So I passed him at San Francisco Hill and was able to control the pace from then on.”
Lap two saw McGuinness regain the lead and the pair began to pull away from the pursuing pack. But Plater used every inch of the track in an effort to stick with the multi-TT winner and forged back ahead at the hairpin on lap three.
“I put in three very fast laps, all a second under the existing record but John stuck with me,” said the 35-year-old race ace.
Steve held onto his slender lead for the remainder of the race, the gap between himself and McGuinness remaining under a second. But on the final lap the pair encountered some backmarkers as they approached the hairpin. Plater timed it to perfection, attacking the backmarkers at just the right place and shot past and onto the finish where he took the chequered flag for his second win in as many years with a four second advantage over McGuinness.
“I knew we'd come across back markers at the end so prepared to attack in
the right places leaving me a gap at the end and it worked to perfection,” said a jubilant Steve Plater. “I suffered with arm pump throughout the race due to my injuries from Qatar last week, which made it very hard to feel the throttle and front brake lever. But I managed to relax wherever possible so I remained strong till the end.
“This is a mega end to season for me and also for AIM and Yamaha who have won both the Superbike and Supersport classes, which I think is the first time a team has won both!”
More practice...
http://www.dailymotion.com/webamanu2/video/x3i431_...
http://www.dailymotion.com/webamanu2/video/x3hpif_...
http://www.dailymotion.com/webamanu2/video/x3i431_...
http://www.dailymotion.com/webamanu2/video/x3hpif_...
Edited by FM on Wednesday 21st November 22:58
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