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Ian Hutchinson to spearhead Yamaha's 2011 TT campaign

Wednesday 26 January 2011
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Ian Hutchinson on his new Yamaha mount

Ian Hutchinson will lead Yamaha’s factory effort as the legendary Japanese manufacturer celebrates its 50th anniversary at the 2011 Isle of Man TT fuelled by Monster Energy.

It has been confirmed the Bingley racer will ride a factory specification YZF-R1 in a team managed by Shaun Muir during the 2011 season.

Hutchy was the man of the year in 2010, dominating the TT by taking victory in all five solo races. That history-making performance, coupled with other fantastic results, earned him the accolade International Road Racer of the Year earlier this month.

Speculation has been rife about who Hutchinson would ride for on the Mountain course this year, but it has now been confirmed he has signed for Shaun Muir.

The two-year deal will see Hutchinson given a full stable of machinery for the TT. As well as the full works-spec R1 Superbike, Muir will supply a Yamaha Superstock machine and an R6 Supersport bike.

In addition to the TT, the team is planning to run at the Macau and Ulster Grands Prix, the North West 200 and may race in the British Supersport Championship as well.

Hutchinson first competed in the TT in 2004 and took his first victory in the 2007 Supersport race. Two years later he joined an exclusive group with two TT victories in a day – winning the superstock and opening Supersport races – but it was last year he re-wrote the history books.

Riding for Padgetts Honda, Hutchy won all five solo races, shattering Philip McCallen’s 1996 record of four victories in a week. In 2011, Hutchinson will be looking to add to his tally of eight TT wins.

His fantastic season came to a shocking end in September when he suffered a career-threatening injury while racing in the British Supersport Championship at Silverstone. He suffered fractures to his left leg and speaking at an wards ceremony in January, Hutchinson revealed he had faced the prospect of losing the limb.

However, he is now well on the road to recovery and working hard to return to full race fitness.

He said:

“I’ve been cycling on a turbo-trainer since mid-December.”

“Initially I struggled to do five minutes, now I can do 40 and get my heart-rate up to 192, with an average of 184. That was all I could do before the accident.”

Yamaha Motor UK Ltd Marketing Manager Simon Belton said:

“The TT Races has been a huge part of Yamaha’s development as a company over the last 50 years and we are delighted to have Ian on board to spearhead our challenge in 2011 as he has proved himself to be one of the leading TT riders.”

Isle of Man Economic Development Minister Allan Bell:

“We are delighted that Yamaha has increased their commitment to the TT Races and it is a sign of the event’s growing strength that we now have factory supported teams from all four leading Japanese manufacturers as well as many other leading European brands.”

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