The Big Interview: Michael Rutter

Last year’s CV was none too shabby for the 46-year-old, who continues to compete at the front end of every race he enters.

For Bridgnorth-based Rutter, the year included his 32nd podium at the North West 200 in Northern Ireland, another podium and a sixth win at the Isle of Man TT – where he set a new lap record for good measure – a second at the Macau GP in China and then, on the circuits, he ended his National Superstock 1000 campaign with a third-placed finish, alongside his team-mate Taylor Mackenzie, who won.

All that happened while forming a brand-new Black Country-based Bathams Racing Team, pretty much from scratch, as the new team boss.

But with everything now in place – including the team’s garage, paddock, trailer and bikes – 2019 looks set to be a more settled year for Rutter and his team.

“We’ll have a two-rider team again, we’re just waiting to make the official announcement,” said the Brierley Hill-born rider.

“It will be similar to what we are doing now. I’m going to do a few races in the superstock and see how I get on.

“If I’m going well, I’ll keep going, if not we’ll concentrate more as a team on the younger rider.”

Bathams Racing will also be running Alveley’s Harris Beech, 15, who impressed in his first year in the Junior British Supersport class, securing a few top-10 finishes in his debut season.

Rutter will also be weighing up his options in the superstock class, running a BMW early, which he could swap for another manufacturer further down the line.

“We’ll be backing Harris again in the same class, but we’ll be upgrading the bike a little bit,” he said.

“We’ll have two racing in the National Superstock 100 series and Harris in the Junior British Supersport class.

“In the BSB, we’ll start off with a BMW and see how it goes. There are a lot of new bikes coming out this year, including a BMW and Kawasaki, but until everyone is out riding them we won’t know which one is the most competitive.

“I did run a Kawasaki in the main BSB not so long ago, which didn’t work out very well, but superstock is a different level altogether.

“Further down the line we would love to run a team in the main BSB series, but we’ll just have to see how it goes.

“I might run myself in it too because although I’m getting older I’m still pretty competitive, but I know I’m not at the level I was at say five years ago.

“But I’m still enjoying my riding and people still want to sponsor me to race at the moment so I’m happy to carry on for a while yet.”

With the BSB campaign already looking pretty tasty, the roads are perhaps where most excitement lies for Rutter, who will be riding the MotoGP-spec Honda RCV he rode to second place at Macau GP, at the TT and also in China.

He’ll also be returning to the Classic TT, but confirmation on what bikes he will be riding probably will not be unveiled until June.

But the omens are looking good for Rutter, who nearly pulled off a shock at Macau before team-mate Peter Hickman, who won at every international road race this year, pulled away and then the race was red-flagged while his older rival was making a late charge.

“I thought Macau was the perfect time to try something like the Honda,” said Rutter.

“We were never going to beat Hickman, the way he’s been racing this year on the roads, but it might have been a bit more interesting had the race gone the full distance.

“I had started reeling him in a bit and noticed his rear tyre was starting to go a little bit, but it wasn’t to be.

“I need to work more on my race fitness too and do a bit more training, but when you’re running your own team it’s very difficult to squeeze everything in.

“But hopefully next year, now everything is in place with the new team – including a trailer, garage and workshop – we should start 2019 with some positive results.

“Testing will probably start some time in March. We also learned a lot about the RCV in Macau and we’ve already made a lot of changes with the bike.

“We had a few issues with the traction control, which was slowing the bike down a bit, but we solved that pretty quickly.

“The electrics are very complicated. We’ve also been working on the gearing speeds, but so much of it is locked in it can be difficult.

“I think we can solve that and the bike is already the best one I’ve ever ridden handling wise, so we’ll just have to see where we can take it.

“Dudley Motorcycles has also come on board too to sponsor the team, including Harris.”

Rutter began his road racing campaign last year on his BMW 1000RR at the North West 200 with a third place in the opening superbike race, setting a new personal best lap, averaging 122.162mph around the 8.9-mile circuit.

He then secured a win in the electric bike TT Zero on the Isle of Man, setting an outright lap record of 121.824mph on his Honda Mugen, as well as third in the Lightweight TT on a Paton and two top top-six finishes in the superbike races.

A series of breakdowns scuppered any chance of adding to his Classic TT wins, but his year ended on a high with a double podium for the Bathams Racing Team at Brands Hatch in Kent, and then a second – and 19th podium in 24 years of racing – at Macau.

But despite all that success, Rutter admitted 2018 had been a real struggle at times.

“Last year was difficult because we were starting the new team up from scratch, which included getting everything we needed in place,” he said.

“After SMT left, we moved everything to the Black Country and turned it into Bathams Racing. I didn’t realise how much work that would be – or maybe I just ignored it – but I’ve got a really good team around me.

“When you’re racing you really need to be concentrating on just going as fast as you can. I was on the grid worrying about the team.

“We still had some good results but although my heart was in the right place, my brain was all over the place.

“The road racing went pretty well too but if I’m being honest, I was disappointed in myself at how I raced on the roads.

“As soon as I got back from the Isle of Man I felt some of the pressure had been lifted and I returned to the BSB to race in a few meetings, which I really enjoyed.

“The Classic TT didn’t go according to plan, but then we signed up Taylor Mackenzie, who is a brilliant, young rider.

“We both had some good results and to both be on the podium at the final superstock race of the year was the perfect end to the season and fantastic for the team.”