Macau Grand Prix: Peter Hickman takes Motorcycle GP pole as he looks for fourth Guia win in five years
- Michael Rutter looking to extend his record to nine Macau wins in his 25th year racing the famous street circuit
- MGM by Bathams pair start at the top of the grid ahead of David Johnson and John McGuinness
Defending champion Peter Hickman picked up pole position for the Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix despite not clocking the fastest lap in the final qualifying session on Friday morning.
The bikers kick-started a day of action at the Guia circuit and Hickman went in to the day with a healthy lead from Thursday.
The Briton had put in the fastest lap in Thursday’s morning practice session before establishing his intent to hold on to his crown on Saturday in the afternoon’s first qualifying session.
Hickman’s first lap put him top of the leaderboard and he stayed there until the end of the session. His final lap of the 6.2km street circuit on his MGM by Bathams BMW was 2:25.10.
His teammate Michael Rutter in second was 1.7 seconds slower than the leader, with John McGuinness third another 0.348 behind him.
On Friday morning Rutter significantly improved on his own time, as did McGuinness’ Paul Bird Motorsport teammate David Johnson, both going faster than third-fastest Hickman in the final qualifying session.
