Ian Hutchinson

Ian Hutchinson (born 12 August 1979 in Bingley, West Yorkshire) is an English professional motorcycle road racer specialising in events held on closed public roads, such as the Isle of Man TT, the North West 200 and Ulster Grand Prix.

Hutchinson made his debut on the Island at the 2003 Manx Grand Prix, winning the Newcomers race on a 600cc Honda, beating the 750cc Suzukis of Jonathan Ralph and Alex Donaldson.

The 2004 North West 200 was a nightmare for Hutchinson, as within yards of starting his first practice lap of the circuit, he injured his leg and put himself out of the meeting.

Hutchinson made his Isle of Man TT debut in 2004, competing in four races all on board a Suzuki.

Despite recording the eighth fastest lap in the final Junior TT practice session, Hutchinson would only take one top ten finish in the Formula One TT, edging out Manx rider Gary Carswell by 2.3 seconds after 150 miles racing.

He also competed in selected races of the British Superstock Championship.

He returned to the Isle of Man in, but this time campaigned Hondas throughout the races.

After making the top five in Superstock practice, Hutchinson ended the week with three top tens and an eleventh-place finish.

He also made his debut at the Ulster Grand Prix in 2005 and continued with selected British Superstock races.

After Ryan Farquhar moved from McAdoo Racing to TAS Suzuki, Hutchinson was signed up by McAdoo to ride their Kawasaki in 2006.

The partnership had immediate success, with Hutchinson winning the 600cc Supersport Race at the North West 200, edging out Rob Frost and Bruce Anstey with the top three split by just under two seconds.

He also recorded the fastest Supersport lap in the history of the event, recording a lap of 116.881 mph. He then enjoyed his best ever TT meeting, with two seconds and a third, although one of the runner-up positions was stripped from him, due to his Kawasaki ZX-6 being deemed to be illegal due to a 0.2mm (0.02 cm) difference in cam dimensions.

He repeated this performance at the Ulster Grand Prix, losing out to Guy Martin in both Supersport races.

He also continued in Superstock, with a best finish of second twice at Oulton Park.

He pulled out of the championship after his second Oulton second, and would finish sixth overall having been second after Oulton with 100 points.

He moved up into the British Supersport Championship replacing the injured Pere Riba on the MSS Discovery Kawasaki in the final four rounds.

He finished fifteenth in the championship, on 42 points.

Hutchinson moved to HM Plant Honda for the 2007 road racing season, and achieved four podiums at the 2007 Isle of Man TT including his first TT win during the Supersport Junior TT, beating John McGuinness by just 2.84 seconds.

He also took his first win at the Ulster Grand Prix, with a win in the Superbike race.

He also competed in the British Supersport Championship, finishing eighth overall including a win at Oulton Park for Bike Animal Honda.

Hutchinson moved to his third different team in three years, signing with Alastair Flanagan's AIM Racing for the 2008 season.

Things did not go as planned, and with him lying tenth in the British Supersport Championship, Hutchinson and AIM parted company.

He did record two more podiums at the 2008 Isle of Man TT.

After an extended off-season, Hutchinson signed for Padgett's Honda for the 2009 season.

Hutchinson suffered a disappointing 2009 North West 200 Races, with two sixth places being his best results.

However, the 2009 Isle of Man TT has been a different story, with Hutchinson claiming two of the three solo races so far.

After a fourth in the rain-delayed opening race on Monday, Hutchinson won both the first race of the Supersport Junior TT and the TT Superstock, setting a lap record in the latter.

Hutchinson's most successful racing year was in 2010, when he set the record of winning the most races in a single Isle of Man TT festival in June, achieving five solo wins, preceded by Supersport class at the North West 200 in Northern Ireland.

At a British Supersport round in September, Hutchinson crashed in wet conditions soon after the start suffering a badly broken left leg after being hit by a following rider's machine.

The leg-break needed many surgical operations and much time to recover.

He again fractured the leg in 2012 when riding an off-road bike practicing exhibition-riding for a motorcycle show at the Excel Arena in London.

Returning to racing with modifications to his race machines involving changing the gear-lever to the right side and fitting a thumb-operated rear brake instead of a footbrake lever, in 2013 he won the Macau Grand Prix.

In 2015 he had a dramatic return to top form with three wins, a second and third places at the 2015 Isle of Man TT races riding PBM Kawasaki (1000 cc) and Team Traction Control Yamaha (600 cc) machines, which contributed to his overall points tally, winning the Joey Dunlop TT Championship Trophy for 2015.

He also competed in selected rounds of the 2015 British Superbike Championship on the Kawasaki ZX-10R.

Hutchinson was placed sixth in his last race on the PBM Kawasaki at the Macau Grand Prix in November 2015.

For 2016, he was contracted to ride Tyco BMWs for the Superbike and Superstock classes, with a return to Keith Flint's Team Traction Control Yamahas for the Supersport class at North West 200, Isle of Man TT, and Ulster Grand Prix.

In 2017, Hutchinson crashed during a race on the Isle of Man breaking his thighbone.

Subsequent races on the Isle of Man in 2018 were not successful, with three DNFs together with places at 11 and 16, and three DNFs in 2019.

Hutchinson suffered from a stroke in early 2023, which sidelined him from the entire racing season.

Prior to becoming a professional road-racer Hutchinson worked as a motorcycle mechanic for the late Colin Appleyard, MBE.