Milwaukee Yamaha's Ian Hutchinson made his return to track action at a Donington Park test this morning and swung his leg over a Superbike for the first time in 18 months as he prepares to fly out for the Macau Grand Prix.

Save for riding a classic up the hill at Goodwood, Hutchinson has been away from competition to allow his badly injured leg time to heal and will now fly out to Almeria for three days on track before going out to the Portugese colony.

"It's been a long wait. We've had a bit of a shakedown today and we have got three days at Almeria, so that is a decent bit of track time before a proper run out at Macau. The last time I went to Macau we did two afternoons, so we should be a little better this time," said Hutchinson, speaking to bikesportnews.com.

"I just need to get comfortable and bike fit in Spain. As much training as you do, you never feel the same once you get on a bike which will give my body a bit of a shock. I have been training, even with my frame on my leg. Obviously, my leg isn't as strong as it is going to be and it still needs more work to get the strength fully back but it's in a good position.

"It's healing and getting stronger all the time. I have got to take whatever I can get, it's a total bonus being able to ride these tests before Macau because we weren't planning to do them at all."