16-TIME Isle of Man TT winner Ian Hutchinson is to race for the Russell Racing team in 2022, competing for the Northern Irish team in international road races in the Supersport class.
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With 2020 and 2021 both proving to be a bust for road racing (and pretty much every other form of major motorsport), 2022 will be Hutchinson’s first time sampling the bike on the roads. That said, the likeable Yorkshireman won’t be completely free of saddle-time before the NW200 and Isle of Man TT come around. He’s campaigning a Raceways Yamaha R1 in the National Superstock 1000 championship, although that is a world away from the challenge of the TT.
Speaking of the news, Hutchinson said:
"The 600 class is in a strange position at the minute with not many manufacturers continuing to build them but Yamaha has been one of the strongest bikes for the past few years," said Hutchinson.
"I've always enjoyed riding it and we should have a good package. All the riders and all the fans are desperate to get back to road racing so fingers crossed it gets back to where it was.
"This bike has been built for two years and it hasn't really turned a wheel.
"Alister has always been part of the Raceways team when I rode for them in the past and we have had success in the Supersport class. He knows what I want out of a bike and he knows how to build a bike."
The team plan to compete in the TT, the NW200 and the Ulster GP, should the event get back on the calendar.
