".....John Dimbylow – Splitlath Redmond team co-owner: “Daring to be different means we can bring a motorcycling legend, and someone with a very similar outlook to us, Erik Buell to Macau with his exotic 1190RS. Everyone knows how fast Mark Miller can be, and with the charging Brandon Cretu alongside him, this will be a very exciting Eastern adventure.....”
".....Brandon Cretu ".....Having two EBR1190RS superbikes with American pilots at Macau under the Splitlath Redmond umbrella is going to be a great story and we feel the bikes will be very competitive on the circuit. Macau can't come soon enough!"
".....At less than 176kgs and with more than 175hp from a torque-rich twin cylinder Rotax-derived engine this is a perfect motorcycle for the tight Macau Grand Prix circuit. Splitlath Redmond will be giving the EBR 1190RS its racing début outside the USA, another landmark achievement for the team....."
I found a video on u-tube from the 1997 Superbike race there and Shawn Higbee road in that race, one of the few American riders. That boy sure gets around, doesn't he.
Splitlath Redmond To Be Sponsored By Gambling Website Dafabet In Macau GP
".....Motorsport is showing huge growth in Asia – something Splitlath Redmond recognised a year ago when we laid plans to bring the first ethnic-Chinese rider to the Isle of Man TT – and Dafabet is looking to be a part of it.....
.....The team have taken the EBR 1190RS Superbike out of the US for the first time, which is ground-breaking in itself. It’s also the 60th anniversary of the Macau Grand Prix, where they expect a record number of visitors and over 12 million TV viewers from around the world. We wish the team every success and riders Mark and Brandon a safe ride....."
Provisional qualifying times...Cretu needs to get quicker or won't start
1. Michael Rutter, UK (Hon CBR1000RR), Metzeler, 2:25.975 2. John McGuinness, UK (Hon CBR1000RR), Dunlop, 2:27.503 3. Martin Jessopp, UK (BMW S1000RR), Metzeler, 2:27.567 4. Ian Hutchison, UK (Yam YZF-R1), Dunlop, 2:28.183 5. James Storrar, UK (BMW S1000RR), Pirelli, 2:28.293 6. Jeremy Toye, USA (BMW S1000RR), Pirelli, 2:28.775 7. Didier Grams, Germany (BMW S1000RR), Pirelli, 2:29.045 8. Horst Saiger, Austria (Kaw ZX-10R), Metzeler, 2:29.263 9. Gary Johnson, UK (Hon CBR600RR), Metzeler, 2:29.295 10. Stephen Thompson, UK (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, 2:30.326 11. Dan Kneen, UK (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:31.029 12. Lee Johnston, UK (Hon CBR1000RR), 2:32.023 13. David Johnson, Austria (Kaw ZX-10R), Pirelli, 2:32.441 14. Roman Stamm, Switzerland (Kaw ZX-10R), Pirelli, 2:33.631 15. Dean Harrison, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), 2:33.712 16. Dan Cooper, UK (BMW S1000RR), Pirelli, 2:34.261 17. Marc Fissette, Belgium (Suz GSX-R1000), Pirelli, 2:34.527 18. Jamie Hamilton, UK (Hon CBR1000RR), 2:34.982 19. Herve Gantner, Switzerland (BMW S1000RR), 2:35.467 20. Mark Miller, USA (EBR 1190RS), 2:35.707 21. Steve Heneghan, Ireland (Kaw ZX-10R), 2:36.492 22. Davy Morgan, UK (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:36.686 23. Andre Pires, Portugal (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:37.069 24. Sandor Bitter, Hungary (Kaw ZX-10R), Metzeler, 2:37.467 25. Ian Lougher, UK (Hon CBR1000RR), 2:37.539 26. Paul Shoesmith, UK (BMW S1000RR), Dunlop, 2:38.493 27. Ben Wylie, UK (BMW S1000RR), 2:39.036, crash 28. Allann-Jon Venter, South Africa (Kaw ZX-10R), Metzeler, 2:39.483 29. Graham English, UK (BMW S1000RR), Pirelli, 2:39.562
Qualifying Maximum 110% of Fast Time: 2:40.572
30. Brian McCormack, Ireland (Hon CBR1000RR), 2:41.879 31. Brandon Cretu, USA (EBR 1190RS), Dunlop, 2:41.978 32. Nuno Caetano, Portugal (Kaw ZX-10R), 2:42.763
Ian Hutchison in 4th is amazing. This is his first time back on track since his horrific leg injury (he nearly lost his foot!) and subsequent horrendous follow up problems. Definitely a different breed of human being these road racers!
".....American Jeremy Toye said he made improvements to the chassis of his Pirelli-fitted Penz13.com BMW Racing Team S1000RR, but another factor in Toye dropping his time from 2:32.612 to 2:28.775 was he got a tow off of Rutter. The provisional pole-sitter said he was catching some slower riders and slowed down to build up a gap to them, and that allowed Toye to get in position to chase Rutter.
“I got my tires warm and went after him,” said Toye. “I’m pretty good in the first sector, so I knew if I could stay with him there I could really pick up some time in Sector Two. For sure it would’ve been a good lap anyway, but going around here you don’t just go bombing into corners on the brakes. It’s nice to have someone to gauge off of, and there’s nobody better to get a tow off of around here then Rutter.”
Mark Miller said he made some improvements to the setup of his Splitlath Redmond Racing EBR 1190RS, but those improvements did not translate to his lap time. Miller went slightly slower during qualifying (2:35.707) than he did in the first practice (2:35.387) and slipped from 13th to 20th in qualifying.
Miller’s teammate Brandon Cretu chopped over 2.5 seconds from his time in qualifying, going from 2:44.613 to 2:41.978, and he finished qualifying session ranked 31st out of 32 riders. ....."
Hutchison Snatches Pole Position For Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix
".....American Jeremy Toye was unable to improve on the 2:28.775 he did on his Penz13.com BMW Racing Team S1000RR in provisional qualifying and slipped from sixth to eighth on the grid.
“It was rough,” Toye told Roadracingworld.com. “You don’t get a lot of time here and this place is different than every other track, so having a good baseline [setup] is key. The first two sessions we made advances with every time we made a change. This session, not so much.”
Toye’s countryman Mark Miller was able to go significantly quicker on his Splitlath Redmond Racing EBR 1190RS in final qualifying, lowering his time from 2:35.707 to 2:34.129. But that performance did not change Miller’s grid position, 20th.
“We just did a few tweaks on the bike,” Miller answered when asked how he improved his pace. “We changed the gearing and the wheelbase. Plus I’ve just got more time on the bike. It wants to be ridden differently. I realized the motor needs different lines to do the lap time. With more time and more learning of the bike I think I can go quicker, but it won’t be in qualifying. I would’ve liked to have done better.”
Miller’s teammate Brandon Cretu was forced to retire early when his EBR 1190RS suffered a mechanical problem on track.
“Something let loose on the upshift as I was coming onto the straightaway before pit in,” Cretu told Roadracingworld.com. “I heard a big pop and pulled in the clutch and shut the bike off. Luckily, I was able to coast into pit lane.”
Cretu had lowered his lap time from 2:41.978 to 2:39.332 before the mechanical problem, and that effort got him inside of the qualifying cut-off--2:40.124, 110% of the pole position time}......"
2013 Macau GP - conditions dry Results taken from lap before red-flag 1 4 Ian HUTCHINSON GBR Milwaukee Yamaha 26:56.390 11 149.93 2:25.419 2 1 Michael RUTTER GBR SMT Racing 26:58.808 11 2.418 149.71 2:25.612 3 5 Gary JOHNSON GBR Quattro Plant Motorsports 27:05.131 11 8.741 149.12 2:26.000 4 2 John McGUINNESS GBR Honda TT Legends 27:19.408 11 23.018 147.82 2:27.427 5 15 James STORRAR GBR DMR Racing 27:20.661 11 24.271 147.71 2:27.567 6 57 Jeremy TOYE USA Penz13.Com BMW Racing Team 2 7:23.359 11 26.969 147.47 2:27.673 7 40 Martin JESSOPP GBR Riders Motorcycles BMW 27:23.599 11 27.209 147.45 2:27.132 8 26 Didier GRAMS DEU Heidger-Motorsport.de 27:41.181 11 44.791 145.89 2:28.951 9 18 Lee JOHNSTON GBR East Coast Racing 27:46.958 11 50.568 145.38 2:29.176 10 11 Stephen THOMPSON GBR T&R Motorsport 27:49.283 11 52.893 145.18 2:30.276 11 10 Mark MILLER USA Splitlath Redmond Racing 28:04.065 11 1:07.675 143.90 2:31.400 12 7 Dean HARRISON GBR RC Express by MSS Performance 2 8:11.244 11 1:14.854 143.29 2:29.947 13 114 Andre PIRES PRT SBK / Incortcar 28:14.491 11 1:18.101 143.02 2:32.061 14 44 Jamie HAMILTON GBR VRS Racing Team 28:20.963 11 1:24.573 142.47 2:32.973 15 48 Herve GANTNER CHE Penz13.Com BMW Racing Team 2 8:31.586 11 1:35.196 141.59 2:33.724 16 12 Ian LOUGHER GBR ILR/Barnes Racing 28:44.679 11 1:48.289 140.52 2:34.711 17 69 Paul SHOESMITH GBR Ice Valley by 28:55.049 11 1:58.659 139.68 2:36.289 18 39 Allann-Jon VENTER ZAF Quattro Plant Motorsports 29:11.947 11 2:15.557 138.33 2:35.126 19 77 Sandor BITTER HUN Quattro Plant Motorsports 29:36.114 11 2:39.724 136.45 2:38.008 20 47 Brandon CRETU USA Splitlath Redmond Racing 29:37.359 11 2:40.969 136.35 2:37.459 21 60 Ben WYLIE GBR Ice Valley by Motorsave Trade 29:37.455 11 2:41.065 136.34 2:37.825 22 83 Graham ENGLISH GBR TIVA Engineering Ltd 29:37.694 11 2:41.304 136.32 2:37.625 23 111 Brian McCORMACK IRL TAG Racing 29:38.127 11 2:41.737 136.29 2:37.774 24 17 Nuno CAETANO PRT KD Team of Portugal 29:46.204 11 2:49.814 135.68 2:39.653
NOT CLASSIFIED 20 Dan COOPER GBR DMR Racing 18:41.073 7 D.N.F. 137.56 2:33.471 54 Steve HENEGHAN IRL Quattro Plant Motorsports 13:18.649 5 D.N.F. 137.93 2:35.447 71 Davy MORGAN GBR CSC Racing 11:11.136 4 D.N.F. 131.31 2:35.519 68 David JOHNSON AUS Lloyd & Jones PR Kawasaki 9:03.979 3 D.N.F. 121.50 2:36.610 8 Roman STAMM CHE Team Bolliger Switzerland 5:23.107 2 D.N.F. 136.37 2:40.565
After enduring three years of personal struggles and adversity, Milwaukee Yamaha’s Ian Hutchison came from behind to took take a very special victory in the 47th edition of the Star River—Windsor Arch Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix Saturday in Macau, China.
Hutchison started from pole position but got off a relatively slow launch due to the tall first gear in his YZF-R1 Superbike, he said. This resulted in the 34-year-old Englishman being fourth into Lisboa Curve, the first tight turn on the 3.8-mile Guia Street Circuit. But Hutchison put his head down and worked his way into the lead on lap five, when he passed SMT Honda’s Michael Rutter at the entrance to Fisherman’s Bend.
Hutchison quickly established a modest lead over Rutter, who fought back and regained some lost ground at times. Then on lap 12, Hutchison charged through a group of five backmarkers like they weren’t there and emerged with a 7.2-second lead. But Hutchison’s effort to get through the slower riders ended up being a non-factor because a few seconds later Dean Harrison highsided in the Solitude Esses, bringing out a red flag.
Harrison was seen on video monitors walking away from the incident.
With the 15-lap race having run 75% of its scheduled distance, officials declared the race complete. Results were determined by the lap 11 running order, and Hutchison had his first Macau GP victory and his first win of any kind after badly breaking his left lower leg in 2010 and suffering through three years of surgeries, rehabilitation and a lot of uncertainty.
Rutter, age 41, finished second, his 14th podium finish in 19 races at Macau.
Third place went to Quattro Plant Racing’s Gary Johnson, a 33-year-old Briton who got a terrific start on his self-built Honda CBR1000RR Superbike. Johnson led the first two laps, but lost first place to Rutter on lap three. Johnson hung on to Rutter for all he was worth, though, and ended up third.
Isle of Man TT hero John McGuinness led into the first bend at the start but began losing ground to the lead trio on the opening lap. McGuinness slipped back into a struggle for fourth with James Storrar, but 41-year-old McGuinness came out on top in the fight and claimed fourth place on his Honda TT Legends CBR1000RR. Storrar, meanwhile, said he was happy with fifth on his Superstock-spec DMR Racing BMW S1000RR.
American Jeremy Toye, riding his Penz13.com BMW Racing Team S1000RR, came out on top of a back-and-forth battle with two-time Macau GP runner-up Martin Jessopp for sixth. Jessopp was leading Toye at the time the red flag came out, but when results were reverted to the lap 11 running order Jessopp was credited with seventh on his Riders Motorcycles BMW S1000RR.
American Mark Miller, riding a Splitlath Redmond Racing EBR 1190RS, started the race in 20th position on the three-rider-wide grid but worked his way up to 11th on the opening lap and stayed there until the red flag came out.
Miller’s teammate Brandon Cretu started the race from the last grid position, 32nd, but fought his way forward with personal best lap times to finish 20th after 11 laps.
Two other riders crashed during the race. Horst Saiger and Marc Fissette tangled going into Lisboa Curve on the opening lap. Both men fell and slide into the outside tire barrier, but both riders were seen on video monitors getting up immediately.
As always in moto racing the skills/ bravery of the best riders almost always trumps or magnifies machinery advantages.
1190 is sensitive to setup. 1190 maybe down on top end vs competition 1190 brakes are finally lasting a whole race
The fact that both 1190 were picking up almost a position per lap, would suggest that they handle really well and can run the pace or the other riders in the field simply weren't competitive to begin with. Thoughts?
I know that is a road coarse, so I'm assuming it's insanely rough (relative to a track) and probably pretty tight.
I'm guessing that suits the 1190RX well.
What a great team with splitlathredomond as well! I'm generally going nuts trying to get live information from the races, and their website made it feel like I had a best friend and badwebber on site and reporting back.
Anyone seen any information on what the Splitlath Redmond team intend to do for the 2014 season? Are they continuing with EBR after Macau, maybe in WSB or going back to BSB with Aprilia? Macau does tend to bring up sopme unusual team/sponsor pairings but I would think that this could be a good match to carry on with (albeit with some better short circuit riders for WSB/BSB)?
From the Spitlath Redmond facebook page (you have "liked" it, right?)
John Dimbylow: wheels are already in motion for next season, a trip to the US for me shortly and we will try to make everything bigger, better and more different I am looking forward to continuing the team and building it still further.
One thing I would say about the Spitlath redmond team since they entered BSB is that they have promised much and delivered little unfortunately. This may be down to team politics, money or just experience, but I really hope that if they get involved with EBR they can up their game considerably from what we have seen in previous seasons from them. I'd hate to see anything scuttled by a poor team