Ian Hutchinson talks up TT Superbike after first test in Spain

The Bingley Bullet, who stretched his tally of wins around the Mountain Course to 11 last year with a treble in the Supersport and Superstock races, joined the Northern Ireland team after competing for Paul Bird Motorsport in 2015 on Kawasaki machinery.

He also rode a Yamaha in the Supersport class last season for Keith Flint’s Team Traction Control Yamaha outfit and has renewed his ties with the Prodigy star once more this year, when he will be bidding for a repeat of his brilliant TT brace on the YZF-R6.

Hutchy, though, will be eyeing a premier class win on the Tyco BMW Superbike at the TT as his top priority as he attempts to end TAS Racing’s long drought at the biggest international road race in the world, which stretches back to 2008.

It’s early days for the Yorkshireman in terms of his preparation with the S1000RR Superbike, but already he has given a glowing assessment of his first shakedown in Spain on the German machine.

“We are obviously working from scratch to get the bike to suit my style but immediately the chassis feels superb,” he said.

“I thought the Superstock bike was impressive – and it is – but I was itching to get on the Superbike and I have to say I wasn’t disappointed.

“It’s starting to really feel like my own bike already after just a couple of sessions, which is testament to the work the team has put in behind the scenes and also here in Spain.”

Hutchinson will lead Tyco BMW’s international roads campaign following the news that Guy Martin will miss the Isle of Man TT this year to compete the gruelling Tour Divide mountain bike challenge, which runs the length of the Rocky Mountains from Canada, through the United States and down to the Mexican border.

The English rider caused a sensation at last year’s TT, with his imperious hat-trick coming five years after serious injuries he suffered in a crash at Silverstone almost ended his career.