Stuart Easton grabs pole position on return to Macau

Three-time Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix winner Stuart Easton set himself up perfectly for a fourth win on his return after a three-year absence when he topped qualifying on Friday.

The 31-year-old Scot, who holds the lap record at the course, left it late in the session before clocking a time of two minutes 25.975 seconds in the second qualifying session, giving rivals no time to respond.

“It’s nice to be back, especially on pole position,” said PBM by The Venetian Hotel rider Easton, who won three consecutive titles from 2008-2010.

“That’s what we wanted to do today. Michael [Rutter] never made it easy at all.

“I felt comfortable on the bike. It’s just a matter of getting used to the circuit again after quite a long spell away.”

Eight-time Macau winner Rutter had set the pace in practice and first qualifying and looked set for another pole position in Saturday’s race until Easton’s late lap. The Milwaukee Yamaha rider was second fastest on 2:26.478.

“It’s really important to be on the front row, that’s what matters,” said the 42-year-old Englishman. “It would have been nice to have pole position, but I did think Stuart might just sneak past me.”