Dan Sayle has made the shock announcement that he is to return to road racing, only seven months after suffering serious injuries in a hefty crash during the Classic TT.

The Sulby all-rounder has submitted entries for the Blackford’s Pre-TT Classic Road Races on the Colas Billown Course over the opening weekend of the TT Festival, May 24-27.

He will be riding a 250cc Yamaha in the eight-lap Geoff Duke Junior Superbike Race and less than a fortnight later will return to the 4.25-mile southside course to race in the 250cc/650cc race at the Colas Post-TT Road Race meeting on the same bike.

Sayle suffered no fewer than 29 fractures when he crashed heavily at Ballaspur on the opening lap of the Lightweight Classic TT last August.

He spent several weeks in a Liverpool hospital receiving specialist treatment, after which he spent another two months of recuperation at home in the island.

’I am counting the days until I will be back on the grid at Billown for the Pre-TT Classic,’ said Dan, this week. ’It has been a long haul since last August, but my determination never deserted me, even at my lowest point, to race again.

’I am getting back into a training routine to ensure I am fully fit for May.’

He will be riding a 250cc Yamaha in the eight-lap Geoff Duke Junior Superbike Race and less than a fortnight later will return to the 4.25-mile southside course to race in the 250cc/650cc race at the Colas Post-TT Road Race meeting on the same bike.