Best weather conditions helped to lift the mood within the whole paddock and the first officially timed practice went underway right on time of Wednesday night. Again some small changes on ride height, positioning on the bike as well as electronic settings helped to improve the feeling for the bike. But from the first lap these modifications reflected that the team went into the right direction.
Michael lapped the island twice on the superbike before he returned to the pits in order to give it another go on the superstock. With 17:47.2min Rutter was 6th on the official time sheet with Bruce Anstey (17:35.8min) being fastest, followed by John McGuinness (17:36.2min).
The superstock time sheet listed Rutter in second position (18:07.1), only 2 sec. behind David Johnson and closely followed by John McGuinness in 3rd. Coming back to paddock there was a hint of a smile on Michael Rutter’s face but again further changes are required in order to make the bike more stable. Especially the superbike is a bit harsh and needs to be slightly softening in order to better absorbing the bumps.
Michael Rutter: “For the first timed practice it seems to be alright the way we went. It’s still hard work on the superbike and I struggled a little with the traction control which kicks in a bit too early and holding the bike back. Also the position on the bike is not perfect yet but it seems that we are getting there. Again it was a decent practice with putting three solid laps into it. The overall package looks alright and I am getting more and more comfortable. Obviously the biggest worry I have is that weird language they are talking in the garage and surely the Germans have a different sense of humor. But I am having a great time with them and enjoying myself. We are heading into the right direction and with some more adjustments here and there we can go a bit faster tomorrow. But for now I am pretty happy with all of it.”
Rico Penzkofer: ”It was a great day for the whole team. The news from the hospital are that Stephen Thompson had further surgeries but he has been up on his legs and also seeing a specialist down I Dublin. Of course it’s going to be a long road for him and we wish him all the best. The weather and time sheets that I have seen today put a smile on my face. The team is working hard in order to adjust the bikes and making Michael feel comfortable on them. It seems that there will be at least two more practice sessions and I am confident that we can further improve the bikes. We are also testing a different tire construction in the front tomorrow in order to make the bike turn quicker which supposed to help with heavy fuel load in the first lap.”
