British Superbikes: Michael Rutter with surprise front row start for Thruxton

Michael Rutter set a storming 1.19.949 lap in wet conditions during qualifying at Thruxton to land himself the third spot on the grid for tomorrow’s race.

MCN caught up with Rutter straight after the session to get his reaction to his front row start.

He said: “It was a good session. We kept our good tyres until the end so we had soft tyres to play with.

“It was difficult because it was half wet and half dry.

“By the time we got round to Church n the soft rubber it was sideways and the traction control was kicking in big time.

“I’m happy to be on the front row again after o long, and I’m really happy for everyone and the team.

“Realistically we are about half a second off on race pace, but this is a new team and new bike, so it’s a bit of a learning curve.”