IAN HUTCHINSON

Ian Hutchinson’s TT story is the stuff of legend and whilst it’s been well documented elsewhere, the fight back and determination he’s shown to come back from serious injury on more than one occasion cannot be underestimated nor forgotten.

Hutchinson was quick on the Mountain Course right from the word go when he won the 2003 Senior Newcomers Manx Grand Prix and, at the time, he was the fastest ever newcomer to have lapped the 37.73-mile circuit whether at the TT or MGP. That showed what lay ahead with his inspiration coming from close friend and neighbour David Jefferies.

The nine-time TT winner played a big part in Hutchinson’s early career, but he sadly never got to witness the success of his fellow Yorkshireman after losing his life at the TT in 2003. Following on from his MGP success though, Hutchinson steadily built up his TT career, John McGuinness another to advise and guide him, with his maiden victory coming in 2007.

Further wins followed in 2009 before his stunning and history-making five wins in 2010, the first and to date only man to achieve such a feat. But the serious injuries sustained at Silverstone later that year effectively lost him four years of his career and split his TT story in two, before and after 2010.

His return in 2015 saw another hat-trick with further wins coming in 2016 and 2017 when his well-publicised rivalry with Michael Dunlop was as fierce off-track as it was on. Indeed, Hutchinson has had several high-profile rivalries over the course of his career, a regular war of words with Guy Martin also springing to mind.

However, he’s endured a tough time since he last tasted victory at the Isle of Man and you have to go back to the 7th June 2017 to find his 16th and, to date, last TT victory. Just two days later, he was left with another badly broken leg and whilst he’s raced each year since, he’s been far from the Hutchy we know.

His two subsequent years with Honda Racing were not at all how he’d envisaged but his experience came to the fore in 2022 when, reunited with TAS Racing, he took fourth and a brace of sevenths in the three ‘big bike’ races. Another setback followed though when he suffered a stroke at the beginning of 2023.

That cost him yet another year of his racing career and although he returned in 2024, lining up with former team Padgetts, it was far from happy experience with 12th in the Senior his best result. Working hard on his fitness – again – he looks fitter and sharper than ever for the 2025 season but whether he can get back to winning ways remains to be seen. His determination and single-mindedness know no limits though and he’d enjoy nothing more than proving the doubters wrong.

DATA TABLE

NOTHING BUT IAN HUTCHINSON