Michael Rutter holds provisional pole after the opening day of qualifying for the 46th Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix but events were overshadowed by tragedy. Portuguese rider Luis Carreira was involved in a heavy accident which halted the session and he later passed away as a result of his injuries.
The accident occurred early in the session with Carreira crashing at Fisherman’s bend at 15:58 local time. No other riders were involved in the accident. The session was red flagged immediately and wouldn’t be restarted due to the gravity of the situation as Carreira swiftly received medical attention. Ten minutes after the accident had occurred, the 35 year old was admitted to hospital but despite continuous CPR, he succumbed to his injuries at 16:28 local time.
The tragic events have cast a shadow over this weekend’s race with Michael Rutter going in search of an eighth Macau Grand Prix victory. Martin Jessopp, former teammate of Rutter in British Superbikes and at Macau, was second fastest ahead of John McGuinness and Gary Johnson.
Despite the sad events of Thursday, the event will continue with the second qualifying session scheduled for 16:35 local time on Friday and the 15 lap race set to start at 15:30 local time on Saturday.
 Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix – 46th Edition – First Qualifying Classification |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Team | Time/Gap |
| 1 |  Michael Rutter |
Honda | SMT Racing | 2:28.326 |
| 2 | Martin Jessopp |
Ducati | Riders Motorcycles.com | +1.634 |
| 3 | John McGuinness |
Honda | SMT Racing | +2.611 |
| 4 | Gary Johnson |
Honda | Quattro Plant Motorsports | +4.096 |
| 5 | James Storrar |
BMW | DMR | +4.239 |
| 6 | James Hillier |
Kawasaki | Bournemouth Kawasaki Racing | +5.049 |
| 7 |  Horst Saiger |
Kawasaki | Saiger-Racing.com | +5.290 |
| 8 | Simon Andrews |
BMW | Ice Valley by Motorsave Trade | +5.462 |
| 9 |  Conor Cummins |
Suzuki | Tyco Suzuki | +5.484 |
| 10 | Dan Kneen |
Suzuki | Marks Bloom Racing | +6.928 |
| 11 | Steve Mercer |
Honda | T & R Motorsport | +7.863 |
| 12 | Stephen Thompson |
BMW | T & R Motorsport | +8.076 |
| 13 | James McBride |
BMW | DMR | +9.953 |
| 14 |  Branko Srdanov |
BMW | Ice Valley by Motorsave Trade | +10.045 |
| 15 |  Luis Carreira |
Suzuki | Benimoto/Rider/Cetelem | +10.233 |
| 16 |  Riko Penzkofer |
BMW | Penz 13 | +10.253 |
| 17 |  David Johnson |
Aprilia | Splitlath Redmond | +10.952 |
| 18 | Nuno Caetano |
Suzuki | KS Team Of Portugal | +14.318 |
| 19 |  Mark Miller |
Aprilia | Splitlath Redmond | +14.362 |
| Current Maximum Qualifying Time: 2:43.158 (+14.832) | ||||
| 20 | Joao Fernandes |
BMW | Penz 13 | +16.873 |
| 21 | Davy Morgan |
Suzuki | CSC Racing | +17.658 |
| 22 |  Rafael Paschoalin |
BMW | TT Brazilian Team | +18.566 |
| 23 | Brandon Cretu |
Honda | Hel Performance | +18.568 |
| 24 |  Steve Heneghan |
Kawasaki | Quattro Plant Motorsports | +18.757 |
| 25 | Fernando Costa |
Ducati | Pon Pone Squadra | +18.901 |
| 26 | Sou Sio Hong |
Honda | Sou Sio Hong | +23.948 |
| 27 |  Yoshinari Matsushita |
BMW | Penz 13 | +1:53.860 |
| 28 | Jamie Hamilton |
Kawasaki | RPM Performance | No Time |
| 29 | Didier Grams |
BMW | German Team Heidger | No Time |
