The most chilling piece of news of the week was the revelation by Ian Hutchinson that he was close to losing his left leg in the aftermath of his crash at Silverstone last September. We all know what a tough sport this is, but there is a tendency to think that short circuit racing is fairly sanitised these days and only on the roads are the risks worth discussing. Hutchy’s experience shows the fallacy of that. It also shows what incredible skills he has brought to the riding of the Mountain Course, that he could stay on board for five long races, keep a hungry pack of chasers at bay, and win the lot without hint of a mishap.

Hutchy in practice, Braddan 2010. Pic: CL
Hutchy’s injury is one reason why there has been no announcement yet of a new contract for 2011. When I interviewed him at the Manx Grand Prix Hutchy made it clear he hoped to continue with Clive Padgett’s set-up, and why wouldn’t he after the team delivered such a fabulous package in 2010! But no-one was committing themselves then and they still haven’t.
In the meantime Clive has signed Bruce Anstey, so if he is to retain Hutchy he is going to be committing a lot more resources, cash and kit, to the international road races than ever before. Clive is on record as saying that he hopes to run Hutchy as well as Bruce, but we haven’t seen that in concrete yet.
Meanwhile the line-up for 2011 is fascinating. Keith Amor continues with the ‘official’ Honda team alongside John McGuinness. Keith is now the official successor to Steve Plater and not just a stop-gap sub. Guy Martin is with a new-look Relentless by TAS set-up – identity of his team-mate to be confirmed. Cameron Donald has gone to Wilson Craig. Conor Cummins remains with McAdoo Kawasaki. There could be some really interesting combinations on the podium this year but I’m expecting the most familiar name of the lot, John McGuinness, to bounce back with at least one big-bike win for the rechristened Honda Legends team. Michael Dunlop and Dan Kneen will be in the mix as well – Dan’s first TT podium could come in one of the Supersport races.
Meanwhile a decision will be announced soon as to when Radio TT will start its broadcasts this year. For the last few years we’ve launched on the Friday evening before the first day of practice on the Saturday. This year there is no Saturday practice and therefore no action on the Mountain Course till the Monday, so that may mean the start of Radio TT being likewise deferred. I don’t expect that to have any impact on the coverage of the pre-TT Classic at Billown, though.