Eight-times TT winner and roads god Ian Hutchinson has signed to ride for the Swan Yamaha squad and will partner reigning British Superbike Champion Tommy Hill in the series next year.

Hutchinson, who is training in Australia after his superhuman performance at the 2011 Macau Grand Prix, will do a full season in BSB for the first time on a factory-supported bike and is working hard to achieve full fitness before the season begins.

The Yorkshireman is still recovering from the horrific crash that almost him lose his leg at the end of 2010. Several operations and an exterior cage later, Hutchinson was able to test three times before heading to Macau. His laptimes at Donington Park on the YZF-R1 were so impressive, given it was a track day and the circuit was full, that team boss Shaun Muir decided to sign him to race in BSB full time.

"I am so excited to have been given this opportunity by Shaun. He has shown a lot of faith in me during my recovery and operations. Macau was a make or break race for me in terms of my own head, so it was great to stand on the podium," said Hutchinson.

"Full fitness is now the first priority. I have been training hard in Australia and the warmer temperatures make it easier on my leg, that's for sure. This is the most exciting thing to happen to me in my career so far, so I am going for it full bore.

"For the last three years I have won in the British Supersport and National Superstock classes, but I haven’t really had full seasons to be able to fight for the title. I think the knowledge I have of riding a Superbike on the roads will help me, and in that respect the new rules will too as I have never ridden with all the gizmos. I tested the Swan Yamaha before Macau and it is a great bike to ride; everything about it feels good so I can’t see any reason why I can’t run at the front.

"I am over my injury now; I currently still use the right-hand gear shift that the team adapted for me to run at Macau but it is not a concern. The team have got it working perfectly for me so I just feel ready to get out testing as soon as possible!

"I think the injury and the year just watching from the sidelines has definitely made me want it more; I want to prove that I can still be successful and I am determined to show that. The crash doesn’t faze me and I don’t think of it as traumatic, but as an experience. I was just unlucky that I got hit and injured the leg so badly.

"As a rider it hasn’t affected me as something like that can happen at any time. Now I just want to race and my aim is to get the results myself and the Swan Yamaha team deserve both in BSB and at the TT."