Astonishing Macau pole for Hutchy

Comeback man Ian Hutchinson is on pole for tomorrow's Macau Grand Prix.

He blasted round the street circuit on his Milwaukee Yamaha in 2 minutes 25.568 seconds to pip eight-time winner Michael Rutter by 0.057 seconds.

Hutchinson sustained serious compound fractures to his left leg in a crash at Silverstone in 2010, only months after making history at the T.T. with five wins.

He did return to racing at Macau in 2011 and finished third - he also competed at the North West 200 and T.T. in 2012.

However, his injuries had not healed properly and he also had a bone infection.

Hutchy sat out the rest of the 2012 campaign and the 2013 season to undergo 29 operations to regrow his leg.

John McGuinness is third on the grid for tomorrow's race behind Hutchinson and Rutter and tweeted that Hutchy's return was "unbelievable" and offered "big respect".

Martin Jessop is fourth followed by Horst Saiger and Gary Johnson.

Manx rider Dan Kneen is 10th on the Marks Bloom Racing Suzuki in a time of 2 minutes 29.369 seconds.