Exciting times ahead for Rutter and Bathams Racing

Road racing is where the Bridgnorth star tends to make his mark these days – and while he keeps winning and claiming consistent podiums, the 48-year-old sees no reason to slow down.

But on top of his own racing career, Rutter now spends the majority of his time leading the successful Black Country-based Bathams Racing team, which is all put together out of a garage in Dudley.

The team, led by Taylor Mackenzie – who has since switched to the full British Superbike (BSB) series with Tyco BMW – pushed Richard Cooper all the way in the 2019 for the National Superstock 1000 title.

There was more change behind the scenes over the winter as reigning champion Cooper decided to leave Suzuki to join Bathams Racing, meaning Rutter's team now has the best rider on arguably the best bike, a brand-new BMW SS1000R, for 2020.

It means Rutter and 34-year-old Cooper will be going head to head in superstock 1000 series, which is raced across the country on the under card of the BSB series.

Rutter finished third in the championship in 2018 and even won his last circuit race in the series that same year, but now tends to use it as means to keep his eye in when it comes to the road racing scene.

But what could make 2020 even more interesting is seeing Cooper and Rutter also battling at the North West 200 in Northern Ireland and the Stars at Darley, at the Darley Moor race track in Derbyshire.

"This year will be very much the same as 2019, with me doing the odd superstock round," said Rutter.

"Basically, I'm going to see how round one goes and if it goes well I'll enter more but if not I'll just race every now and again.

"The main objective for the team this year is is to try and win the superstock championship.

"We finished second last year with Taylor after coming up against Richard Cooper – who is now racing for us this year on our new bike.

"We've got the best rider in the championship and hopefully he'll be on the best bike too."

Rutter said after switching bikes half way through the 2019 campaign, the team had learned lots during the winter, which in turn meant they were in a good place for the start of the new season.

Bathams Racing has also been given official BMW Motorrad status for the 2020 campaign.

"There are four BMWs in total – two superbikes and two superstock machines," he said.

"We're both doing both classes at the North West 200, as well as the superstock championship.

"Richard made his debut at the North West last year and managed to claim a podium. The fact he's small and compact helps him to go faster down the straights.

"There are some very good riders at the North West and it's always difficult to beat someone of Richard's size on that circuit, but we'll both be on identical bikes for roads and circuits."

Identical bikes means Rutter will not be riding the Honda MotoGP-spec machine on the roads this year, instead returning to BMWs for the superbike classes.

"The Honda has come of age a little bit, like all bikes do, because these new bikes are even better," he said.

"We're also officially a BMW team this year and although I can technically ride anything I like it looks better for the team to all be on the same bikes.

"The partnership means BMW will help the team out with electronics and if anything new comes out we'll be the first team to get it."

Rutter will also be back racing at the Isle of Man TT, Classic TT and Macau GP – but this year he is returning to the Star at Darley too.

"Both Richard and I have won a record six times there so it made sense to ride against each other. He'll be hard to beat but I'll give it a good go," he said.

"We've done some testing already and then we'll be back out in Spain at the end of March.

"We'll then head to Silverstone for the official BSB test before the opening round.

"The bike has already improved massively but there is still so much to do. It never stops really, especially with a brand new bike which can make things a bit harder.

"However, sometimes it's helpful because you're more inclined to change and improve things rather than leaving settings as they were."

Rutter said the 2019 campaign went about as well as it could have done and anything close to same this year would be a bonus.

"Last year, I did everything I set out to do and possibly even more," he said.

"The short circuit racing went as expected really, and was happy with that, but getting podiums at the North West and Classic TT was great.

"I also got a win on the electric Honda Mugen at the TT, as well as top six finishes in the superbike and superstock classes.

"I even won the Macau GP and although that was perhaps fortunate I still had to be there.

"At my age, I was really happy with how everything went and I'll be very pleased if I can repeated any of it again this year."