British driver Peter Hickman (aged 29) triumphed in the 48th Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix on Saturday after a tense duel with Bathams/SMT Racing BMW teammate Michael Rutter (aged 44).
Hickman finished the 12 laps of the Guia circuit in 29:15.590 followed by Michael Rutter with +0.533 and Jessop with +0.655. Peter Hickman took his first Macau GP victory in 2015.
It was Rutter chasing a record ninth victory in the Macau race, who had led from the start but on lap seven, Martin Jessopp made a move on Rutter briefly taking the lead before losing it again on the entry to Lisboa Hotel bend.
A lap later Jessopp he grabbed the front spot again from Rutter in Lisboa and tried to pull clear. But on lap 10, Jessopp was a sitting duck as he found Rutter and Hickman going either side of him on the run to Lisboa and demoting him to third.
He then suffered further heartbreak as he lost his gears and struggled to slow for Lisboa.
Rutter was then the man under pressure, as the following lap Hickman grabbed the lead on the run down to Lisboa.
Hickman was able to hold on to take the chequered flag 0.533 seconds ahead of Rutter and secure his second consecutive Macau win.
“It is one of the hardest races I’ve ever done,” he said.
“I had never even seen the bike I was on until Thursday morning, which was really hard, and the last time I rode a BMW was a year ago.”
Jessopp managed to make a recovery and challenged Rutter for second but could not complete the pass and was third.
Conor Cummins finish in fourth place – more than 20 seconds adrift of the leading trio. (Macau News/Motorsport)
