We’re extremely sad to report that at the age of 78 on March 24, Tony Rutter passed away after a period of deteriorating health.
Father of popular racer Michael, Tony will, for many, best be remembered for winning the world TT-F2 championship four times on a Ducati, although he also held seven Isle of Man TT wins, nine North West 200 wins and two British championship titles.
Clearly, Tony was a man capable of not only taming the notorious Isle of Man Mountain circuit, but also adept on short circuits too, with his first British championship win coming in 1971 with the 350cc crown.
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Raw talent and determination saw his career – on the national and international stages – continue through the Eighties, with podium places coming on a Suzuki GSX-R in 1985, although a crash at Spain’s Montjuic Park that year resulted in nasty injuries that prevented him from racing at the same high level in subsequent years, although he raced until 1991, by which point he was supporting Michael in his racing endeavours.
For this magazine editor, the hard-working Midlander will be forever remembered as the ‘TR’ who manhandled some fearsomely fast machines around the TT, and the man who (arguably) saved Ducati with his string of wins on the F2 machine.
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