TT star and paddock comedian Steve Plater has said will not return to racing until he is back to 100 per cent fitness and in a position to win races.

The likeable Lincolnshire man was sidelined from action when he crashed at the Thruxton British Superbike round earlier this year, aggravating the injuries he received at the North West 200 in 2010 for which he was still receiving treatment from his physiotherapist after suffering nerve damage to his lower arm.

After the accident, Plater had an operation to re-plate the arm but the damage to the nerve in his arm was severe and he underwent a further operation in which nerves were taken from both legs, grafted together and then grafted into his arm. The operation was complex and Steve was under the anaesthetic for a lot longer than he expected.

“I went into theatre at 8am and came round at midnight. It was an 11-hour operation and I was not expecting it to last that long. “My recovery is going to plan, the specialist is happy with the way I am improving and the bones are healing well, I had breaks in all three bones – the humerus in the upper arm and the radius and ulna in the lower arm and more seriously the nerve was severed plus there was some artery damage," said Plater.

“That was a couple of months ago and I am yet to get any feeling back in my thumb, forefinger and index finger. It’s frustrating but I am hoping that the feeling will eventually come back. The movement in my hand is getting better all the time but I won’t know for a while yet as to whether I will regain full feeling. I still have two operations pending where the surgeon will reconnect the tendons to my fingers and once that’s done the feeling should start to return.

“I am not interested in riding competitively until I am in a position to win races. I had this conversation with Ben Wilson at Cadwell recently and he feels the same, if he can’t win a race he is miserable and I feel exactly the same which is only natural for a racer. To answer the question, I can’t see me riding competitively again this year. I will get back on a bike and ride – but not in anger! Obviously I can’t afford to injure my arm again so I will perhaps do some track day work and a bit of instruction to see how I get on.”

“I am not in a position where I have to worry about a ride for next year as Clive Padgett has told me the bike is there waiting for me as and when I feel ready to return to the track and my personal sponsors UK Waste Solutions from Newark have also pledged their support.”

Plater is also hoping to return to the Honda TT Legends World Endurance Team next year as Endurance racing is close to his heart. He has won races over the years with various World Endurance teams and finished second in the World Championship twice, with Kawasaki France in 2007 and Yamaha Austria the following year.