Jessopp takes first ever Macau Grand Prix pole
Martin Jessopp has taken his first ever Macau Grand Prix pole position in this morning’s second qualifying session for the Chinese race, holding off fellow BMW rider Michael Rutter by over a second to secure the pole.
Jessopp controlled the session for most of the 45 minutes, becoming the first to dip first into the 2:26 and 2:25 laps before eventually ending on 2:24.387, 1.137 clear of Rutter’s Penz13.com BMW.
Peter Hickman made it a 1-2-3 for the German manufacturer, taking the Birggs Equipment machine to third, 0.7 behind Rutter and 0.5 clear of Ian Hutchinson on the PBM Kawasaki in fourth.
Yesterday’s provisional pole man John McGuinness was fifth on the Honda Fireblace, ahead of Gary Johnson on the second Penz13.com BMW and his teammate Conor Cummins, with Horst Saiger rounding out the top ten ahead of reigning champion Stuart Easton and Northern Irishman Lee Johnston.
The session was red flagged after only a few laps when Tom McHale came off at the notoriously fast Mandarin corner. The newcomer is reported to have head and limb injuries but regained consciousness at the scene of the crash before being transported to local hospital.
| POS | NO | RIDER | NAT | TEAM | TIME | LAPS | GAP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 40 | Martin Jessopp | GBR | Riders Motorcycles BMW | 2:24.387 | 13 | |
| 2 | 7 | Michael Rutter | GBR | Penz13.com BMW Motorrad Motorsport by MGM China | 2:25.524 | 13 | 1.137 |
| 3 | 60 | Peter Hickman | GBR | Briggs Equipment BMW | 2:26.269 | 12 | 1.882 |
| 4 | 9 | Ian Hutchinson | GBR | Paul Bird Motorsport Ltd | 2:26.791 | 15 | 2.404 |
| 5 | 4 | John McGuinness | GBR | Honda Racing | 2:26.810 | 12 | 2.423 |
| 6 | 5 | Gary Johnson | GBR | Penz13.com BMW Motorrad Motorsport by MGM China | 2:26.879 | 13 | 2.492 |
| 7 | 22 | Conor Cummins | IOM | Honda Racing | 2:27.030 | 11 | 2.643 |
| 8 | 3 | Horst Saiger | LIE | Saiger-Heidger Macau Race Team | 2:27.953 | 14 | 3.566 |
| 9 | 1 | Stuart Easton | GBR | SMT/Booth Yamaha | 2:28.431 | 13 | 4.044 |
| 10 | 13 | Lee Johnston | GBR | East Coast Construction | 2:29.594 | 10 | 5.207 |
| 11 | 15 | Jimmy Storrar | GBR | Paul Bird Motorsport Ltd | 2:29.968 | 13 | 5.581 |
| 12 | 20 | Dan Cooper | GBR | Space Centre Racing | 2:30.303 | 13 | 5.916 |
| 13 | 16 | David Johnson | AUS | Ice Valley by Motorsave Trade | 2:30.330 | 15 | 5.943 |
| 14 | 10 | Mark Miller | USA | Splitlath EBR | 2:30.445 | 13 | 6.058 |
| 15 | 26 | Didier Grams | GER | Saiger-Heidger Macau Race Team | 2:30.764 | 12 | 6.377 |
| 16 | 111 | Brian McCormack | IRL | TAG Racing | 2:31.483 | 11 | 7.096 |
| 17 | 48 | Herve Gantner | SUI | Penz13.com BMW Motorrad | 2:31.638 | 12 | 7.251 |
| 18 | 54 | Steve Heneghan | IRL | ReactiveParts.com | 2:32.545 | 12 | 8.158 |
| 19 | 39 | Allann-Jon Venter | RSA | CF Racing Team 32 | 2:33.516 | 14 | 9.129 |
| 20 | 34 | Ben Wylie | GBR | Bimota Factory Racing | 2:33.532 | 14 | 9.145 |
| 21 | 11 | Paul Shoesmith | GBR | Ice Valley by Motorsave Trade | 2:34.036 | 13 | 9.649 |
| 22 | 62 | Sam West | GBR | PR Racing LLOYD & JONES Kawasaki | 2:34.038 | 11 | 9.651 |
| 23 | 14 | Andre Pires | POR | Team SBK/IncortCar # Yamaha | 2:35.019 | 14 | 10.632 |
| 24 | 24 | James McBride | GBR | Morello Racing | 2:35.559 | 12 | 11.172 |
| 25 | 6 | Ivan Lintin | GBR | RC Express Racing | 2:35.867 | 13 | 11.480 |
| 26 | 71 | Davy Morgan | GBR | Magic Bullet Racing | 2:36.266 | 15 | 11.879 |
| 27 | 31 | Dan Kruger | CAN | Penz13.com by Special Olympics & MGM Macau | 2:37.056 | 10 | 12.669 |
| 28 | 88 | Brandon Cretu | USA | Bimota Factory Racing | 2:37.151 | 12 | 12.764 |
| 29 | 18 | Nuno Caetano | POR | FMP Team Portugal | 2:37.992 | 5 | 13.605 |
| 30 | 65 | Michael Sweeney | IRL | Martin Jones Racing | 2:41.133 | 5 | 16.746 |
| 31 | 90 | Tom McHale | GBR | CF Racing Team 32 | undefined | 1 | |
| 32 | 72 | Russell Mountford | GBR | VRS Racing | undefined |
