Swan Yamaha's Ian Hutchinson was pleased to get his first TT finish in two years on Saturday when he claimed 8th in the Superbike TT but he was also frustrated that he was held back, not by his own fitness but by the R1 Yamaha and the characteristics of what's essentially a factory World Superbike machine struggling to meet the demands of the Mountain Course.

"It was an alright result and was as much as I could do with the bike I was on. We've been chipping away all week but turning a World Superbike machine into a road racing machine has been harder than we thought. Gettingsix6 laps in today has been really valuable and we've learnt a lot but we're a long way off where we need to be," said Hutchinson, speaking to bikesportnews.com.

"When we got here, the suspension was way too hard so we've been softening every session but we've literally ran out of softness. We need to start looking at the internals to get the bike better. What we're up against is riders who've been racing here for the last four years on the same bike (the Honda) compared to the four days we've had."

Hutchinson has also had a practice week fraught by problems including a puncture on the Supersport machine during the final practice session. He's also only had one lap on the Superstock machine and with Saturday's afternoon's practice lap hit by rain, it's fair to say he won't go into Monday's races ideally prepared.

"It's just been one of those weeks. We've had all sorts of problems and have really been hit hard by the loss of practice sessions these last three evenings. It's been the same for everyone obviously but we probably needed the time more than anyone. After all I've been through these last two years, it's still nice to be back here though. It's just a bit frustrating that I'm not at the sharp end. The Superbike race was ok and it was a result but, hopefully, we'll improve during the rest of the week."