Danger and death stalk the twisting island course but riders remain phlegmatic, saying that, in a sanitised world, they find freedom and beauty
“I don’t love it because it could kill you,” Ian Hutchinson says as he tries to explain why, exactly a year since it left him unable to walk for 11 months, he is racing again this week in the TT on the Isle of Man. The Tourist Trophy, or the TT, as the world’s most dangerous road racing series is known, has marked Hutchinson. You can see it in his limp as he uses a stick to help him reach a seat where he can address the TT’s enduring appeal and perennial threat.
Hutchinson is third on the list of all-time winners with 16 victories. He pauses when reminded that Guy Martin, a former TT rider, said: “I love it because it can kill you.” Hutchinson suffered another horrible crash in last year’s TT Senior race, breaking his leg badly on Snaefell Mountain. It was the same leg that was almost amputated in 2010, shortly after Hutchinson clinched a record five wins in TT week.
Written by Donald McRae
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/jun/03/tt-isle-of-man-ian-hutchinson-michael-dunlop under the title “Ian Hutchinson: ‘I want to race the TT until there is no more magic’”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
