Louth race ace Peter Hickman on the mend after 140mph TT crash

Hickman, a 14-times TT winner and holder of the absolute lap record for the 37.73-mile circuit, suffered a heavy crash during practice on the opening lap of the third qualifying session at Kerrowmoar and was treated at the scene before being taken by AirMed to Nobles Hospital in Douglas.

“Condition wise I am not too bad,” he said.

“I have quite a lot of broken bones, my left collar bone, my left shoulder blade is in three pieces, three broken ribs and four broken vertebrae and lots of bruises all over my body plus a couple of black eyes!

“So I want to give a massive thank you to all the marshals and medics who looked after me at the time as they did a fantastic job.

“I don't remember much about it because I was knocked out. I don't remember the lap leading up to the crash, in fact the first time I properly woke up was in hospital.

“It's a bit of an experience for me as I never in my 25-year career have I been knocked out before.”

He continued: “The reason for my crash was a component failure so not actually my fault.

“The problem was a bracket that holds the exhaust in place. It didn't come loose, it broke and pushed the exhaust into the rear wheel and popped the tyre.

“I would like to thank everyone who has sent me get well soon messages over the last couple of weeks, I really appreciate your concerns.”

Hickman is going into a hyperbaric chamber twice a day to help get himself repaired and back on track and the good news was that his Superstock BMW machine was not too badly damaged in the crash.

He is going for another scan in a couple of weeks to see how everything is healing but won't be back until he feels he is ready.