Tyco Suzuki's Conor Cummins will grit his teeth and ride in tomorrow's opening TT Superbike race without the help of painkillers to numb the constant throb and ache in the hand he injured at the North West 200 two weeks ago.

Cummins was in a collision with Martin Jessopp and Gary Johnson going into Mathers Chicane and damaged his hand but says painkillers will dull his sense of how hard he is holding so, so it is safer to ride without.

"It's hard to explain how the hand feels. It's not typically painful but just constantly throbs and I don't want to be taking any painkillers or injections - it's too dangerous around here to be doing that as you have to know how tight you're holding on. We'll just work around it and do the best we can. It's just a matter of gritting my teeth and getting on with the job," said the Manxman.