The 2016 race season was possibly your most successful to date , you were on a podium pretty much every time you raced . Maybe not as successful TT-wise as your five-timer in 2010 , but overall it was an impressive season .
Yeah , for short circuit and the roads it was obviously one of my best all-around years . 2010 was pretty much a match on the roads , if not better because I won all of the Isle of Mans but podiumed every race . I think I won ten international road races in 2010 and won nine last year , so it came pretty close to being my best year .
The rumour at the end of last year was you wanted to move to Superbikes with the BSB . Was that a personal decision in the end to stick with Superstock ? How did that work out ?
Well , the main thing that I wasn ’ t happy with was the track time in Superstock , because I was only getting a twentyminute session on Saturday and I was there all week and just sat around , waiting . So , I wanted to do Superbike just to get some more bike time . Obviously with the level that the Tyco team are at it would have been nice to go into Superbike with a proper setup and team ready to go at that sort of level . I kind of put it to them that I ’ d like to do Superbike if I stay with the team and they offered me the Superbike route . The more I thought about it - and when they changed the rules a little bit for Superstock to give us more track time - I decided not to bother .
You mentioned the rule changes for 2017 . Do you think that will benefit you with the longer races ? You obviously do quite a lot of training and preparation , so is that something you ’ re looking forward to ?
Yeah , it wasn ’ t something that I was expecting . I was expecting to have a sprint race on the Saturday , but now they ’ ve gone a bit berserk and given us … I don ’ t even understand it yet . But some of the races are going to be longer than British Superbike . They will have two back-to-back races with a short pit stop . I ’ m so comfortable on the Superstock bike , I could ride it around all day anyway . So I think it will work out good for me , but most people will adapt to it fairly quickly .
We just mentioned your training . You do quite a lot . Do you prepare as a professional athlete throughout the winter or are you quite relaxed with it ?
I ’ ve done all kinds of different things . I went really crazy with training throughout my recovery from the leg injury , because I had to really get the strength back in my leg . Then last year I was working on a building site for two months at the beginning of the year , so I never went to a gym because I was just doing too many hours on there . Then this year I ’ ve put a lot more time into riding motorbikes . I ’ ve been riding trials bikes , motocross , dirt track bikes , mountain bikes - rather than gym work . So , I kind of mix it up every year . I think it ’ s good to do that just to keep you interested .
Have there been any changes for 2017 ? I noticed the Dunlop tyre announcement . I ’ d guess that ’ s probably the biggest thing , but everything else is staying the same ? BMW in Superbike and Superstock then on the R6 for Supersport with the Keith Flint team ?
Yeah , I ’ m back with both the same teams . We ’ ve got some improvements for the BMW . We ’ ve got the big change with the tyres obviously . Going back to what I used in all of my TT races before my leg injury .
I ’ m hoping that can give us some more success in the Superbike class at the TT . Then with the TTC team for the 600 again , but with the new R6 . It ’ s not a revelation or a total new thing that would be hard work at the start . It ’ s just little bits and bobs of changes . The biggest thing for me is that it ’ s got a fairing on it that I can actually get behind on the little 600 .
Speaking of Dunlop , what about your Dunlop rivalry , namely with Michael ? How ’ s that relationship at the moment ?
Well , obviously , he ’ s changed manufacturers now . I think it ’ s great that Suzuki are back involved with the TT . It makes it better the more manufacturers there are . I don ’ t really have much to do with him .
Have you actually spoken to him since your war of words at the end of the TT ?
I spoke to him on the podium after the Ulster GP and tried to put everything to bed and move on from it . I ’ m not wanting to change things like we ’ re best mates , but I ’ ve got respect for what he does as a rider . We don ’ t really need to be text messaging each other , but it is what it is .
You mentioned that level of respect . The two of you have pushed each other on and elevated the speeds at the TT year on year . Do you think we will see that 135 mile-per-hour lap in the future if you keep going at the same level of the last few years ?
Yeah , as we go faster it comes down more and more , less in seconds that you have to find to go a mile an hour faster . The u
Hutchy
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