Hutchinson determined to leave his injury woe in the past

tell me where I am at with everything,” Hutchy said.

“I have no specific goals for the North West, but eventually I want to be back winning races, but at the moment I don’t know how soon that will come.

“I haven’t walked for almost 11 months, so I need to try and keep progressing in small steps. I did about 190 laps over three days at Mallory and then 49 laps at Cadwell. The leg feels good and I felt comfortable on the bikes, riding the Superstock bike and then the Superbike for the rest of the test and racing.”

Many a lesser mortal could not contemplate what Hutchy has gone through since 2010 and he must be commended for his efforts.

Of course, the opposition here at the Triangle is powerful and includes his Honda Racing team-mate Lee Johnston, who will also pilot a Padgetts Honda in Supersport, and Conor Cummins, who is Padgetts Honda-mounted in all three major classes.

There will be a lot of focus on the all-time wins record holder Alastair Seeley, who has stood on the top step of the podium an incredible 21 times, alongside Michael Dunlop and Dan Kneen, with all three competing under the Tyco BMW banner in Superbike.

It will be intriguing to see how this pans out — will they gel, share data, even speak to one another? Or will it be every man for themselves between the three potential winners?

And the first-class entry doesn’t end there, with world-class road racers Glenn Irwin, Peter Hickman, Michael Rutter, William Dunlop, Dean Harrison and Gary Johnson all set to compete, while notable runners hoping to break into the winner’s circle include James Hillier, Adam McLean, James Cowton, Derek McGee, Sam West, Maria Costello MBE, Michael Sweeney and Joey Thompson.

The most notable newcomer this year would appear to be Davey Todd riding under the Cookstown BE banner of John Burrows. He has been carving a niche in Irish national road races and will be looking to transfer that form to the international scene.

The international road racing season swings into action this morning and by the afternoon we will have the first glimpses into who has set the early fastest laps, who still has