The man from the Black Country raised a glass of the black stuff in Portstewart’s famous, old Anchor Bar last night — not in toast to his Superbike pole position for Saturday’s Relentless North West 200, but as a get-well-soon gesture to an absent friend.

While the unfortunate Stuart Easton underwent surgery for his crash injuries, the day’s fastest man, Michael Rutter, was feeling pain of a different kind when elation ought to have been his emotion.

The West Midlands rider, a North West veteran now at 39, and his stricken pal from Hawick, are big-time buddies as well as racing rivals — Easton, with his 204mph North West speed record taking Rutter’s 201mph previous best that made him a race folk hero.

“What happened to Stuart has definitely taken the edge off my achievement in getting pole,” Rutter told me in the immediate aftermath of his 121mph run to a surprise top spot that astonished even him.

His first reaction was to ask if I had any news of his old pal’s condition.

“It’s definitely put a downer on things for me,” he added.

“And despite all the bravado you hear in the paddock, it definitely does make you think twice.

“Stuart’s a great lad. There isn’t a bad bone in his body and I hope the broken ones mend soon. We go out for a few pints together all the time after racing and he’s have been with me down the Anchor after this, for sure.

“Let him know I’m thinking about him. Accidents are a downside of racing and we all know that. It’s not a reason to quit — that will come when I cease to enjoy racing.

“The British Superbike series is our bread and butter. We do road racing for a bit of fun away from that.

“Stuart and I love the North West for the atmosphere and the craic and I’ve also a strong family connection through my dad, Tony, who won nine races here, to my 12 now. He was one of the main reasons I came here in 1992 for the first time and why, I think, the crowd took to me.

“So, yes, it was good to take pole against all expectations but that pint of Guinness isn’t going to go down as well as it might.”

Seasoned pro that he is, after 352 British Superbike starts and so many wins he’s lost count, Rutter will clamber back on board his Ducati tomorrow, determined to enjoy the ride, first and foremost, and if he wins, that will be a bonus, calling for the mahogany to be decorated again down the Anchor.

Ride hard, play hard could be Rutter’s motto. Well I remember the night after he became the first rider to break the 200mph barrier here and watching him celebrate in the same bar with a karaoke rendition of Wild Thing, accompanied by UTV cameraman Albert Kirk, another showman in his own right.

That’s the fun side of the North West that keeps Rutter coming back.

“It’s unique,” he says. “I love the course and especially the coast road stretch. There’s no better feeling than flying along there on the last lap when you’re leading, seeing the crowd going mad and waving their programmes.

“Every winner here is appreciated and the riders feel the same way about the fans. We don’t see the crowd at the finish at most tracks, they’re so far away — here you can almost touch them.”

In taking pole for tomorrow, old favourite Rutter spectacularly forced a rethink among those who had, not so much written him off, as believed his best days were behind him.

Can he confound them again with a 13th North West win on the day?

“If it’s dry, I like to think I’ll be on the podium at least,” he forecast.

“You need a lot of luck as well as ability around this course and I had a fair slice of good fortune to make pole.

“There were mechanical problems with the bike going round which meant I only managed one hard lap but that seems to have been just about enough.

“The TAS Suzukis are still the team to beat. They are built for road racing so its hard to look past Alastair Seeley and Guy Martin.

“But in the right conditions, any one of six of us could win it, really? myself, my team-mate Martin Jessopp, Alastair, Guy, Michael Dunlop or Cameron Donald.”

And at that point, a young fan entered the team tent, seeking Rutter’s autograph on a programme article on his hero – a reminder of his popularity and possibly also a favourable omen.

The headline read: ‘There’s life in the old dog yet...’