BSB contender Jason O'Halloran recalls 'scary' moment Isle of Man TT great Ian Hutchinson suffered stroke while cycling

Hutchinson has been ruled out of the North West 200 and TT this year after his racing licence was revoked as a result of the health scare, although the 43-year-old has recovered well and has been cleared to drive again.

The Yorkshireman, who was due to ride for Northern Ireland team TAS Racing on Milwaukee BMW M1000RR machinery again in 2023, credited Australian O’Halloran for saving his life following the incident at the end of February.

In a post on his Instagram account last month, ‘Hutchy’ said: “Had a stroke while cycling in Spain 2 weeks ago. Jason saved my life. All good now, thank you more than I can ever believe mate.”

McAMS Yamaha BSB rider O’Halloran shed further light on the shock story when he appeared on the Chasin’ the Racin’ Podcast, hosted by road racer Dominic Herbertson.

Recounting the incident, O’Halloran said he met up with Hutchinson after travelling to Spain and they decided to go cycling together after they went out for dinner.

“I got to Spain on the Saturday and I was out cycling. ‘Hutchy’ texted me to see if I wanted to have dinner… we were having a bit of pizza and stuff and I said I was going out cycling the next day,” said O’Halloran.

“He’d been doing some cycling as well, so I said we’d go for a steady pedal to this little café that we cycle out to and back again.

“Now when I look back on the day, it was a really strange day – it was a weird day. We cycled out, the sun was out, we sat down and had a coffee and we were talking about loads of stuff, just good stuff – not just bike racing, life in general,” he added.

“He was telling me about his daughter and I had got engaged, just normal stuff.

“The we left that café and about 10 or 15 minutes after that, he obviously had a stroke and I managed to get him the help he needed really.

“So it was a scary day, that’s for sure, and after that to see the progress he had, and how fast the progress was that week, was incredible. Wishing him all the best really.”

Last week, the Milwaukee BMW team confirmed Hutchinson would miss this season as a result of his stroke in line with the sport’s protocols.

However, he will be in attendance at the North West next month and the TT in June to represent the team and its sponsors.

Hutchinson finished fourth in the Superbike TT and claimed seventh position in the Superstock and Senior races in 2022.

He famously won five races in a week at the TT with the Padgett’s Honda team in 2010, but a crash later that year at Silverstone left him with a severely broken left leg.

Such was the severity of his injuries that doctors considered amputating his foot, but he overcame adversity to return to winning ways once again.

Ulsterman Alastair Seeley will ride for TAS Racing at the North West 200 (May 9-13) on the SYNETIQ BMW.