HUTCHY’S BROKEN BODY
In 2010 Hutchy suffered a badly broken tibia and fibula on his left leg after being hit by other riders during a start-line pile up in horrendous conditions at Silverstone BSB. After multiple operations and skin grafts he returned to racing at the end of 2011, finishing third at Macau. Hutchy then broke the same leg again during rehearsals for the Carole Nash MCN London Show at the start of 2012. His leg had become infected and was weak. An external cage was fitted once again and he competed on the roads but was still injured. More operations followed at the end of the year and into 2013. Hutchy had his final operation in September 2013 (his 30th) and was declared fit to race at Macau. The sensational story was capped with pole position and a win. Now riding with a right foot shift Hutchy remained injury-free up until his crash at the TT in 2017. The crash smashed his ankle again and broke his fibula. But the doctors also had to break his tibia, at the top so they could lengthen it and fuse it to his foot, removing the talus bone which connects the tibia to heal.
All that might make ordinary racers retire, but Hutchy is no run-ofthe-mill rider. “I’m testing throughout winter with Honda, going to France shortly with Dunlop tyres,” he says. “I’ll be with Honda next year and I want to do Superstock in BSB. I’ve done it before and enjoyed it.
“I’m trying to get it sorted with Honda UK and Honda Europe. I’ll be at the North West and the TT and should be as fit as I was before the 2017 crash.”