ZERO TO HERO

Unless you were living under a rock, on the moon, or in a faraway galaxy, there was absolutely no ignoring the fact that 2018 was a monumentally successful year for the big lad from Lincolnshire. I mean, let’s just push that 135.492mph TT lap aside for the moment; yeah, he has the fastest average speed for a road race ever recorded on two wheels, but that’s just scratching the surface. Hicky managed a win at every international road race, from the North West 200 all the way through to Macau, alongside winning in BSB and ending up in the Showdown… all whilst dabbling in the World Endurance scene for good measure. Now that’s not too shabby for one season, is it? And it’s fair to say that this kind of result was definitely on the cards leading up to 2018, which is all the more impressive considering the rocky road Hicky’s endured along the way. So, with all this, and after winning one of the greatest road racing duels of the current era in last year’s Senior, I don’t think you lot will mind us putting him amongst the all-time greats of the scene.

But even so, how is he as an actual bloke? Fame and success can turn a lot of people, but thankfully, Hicky is the same old affable gent he’s always been, and sitting down one on one with him only solidified our respect for the Smiths BMW throttle jockey. This meant that the first thing on the agenda was to get word from the man himself, and see if he could’ve ever imagined last year turning out the way it did – and how he built up to it through the years?

“I always hoped it would! Ever since I turned up on the roads, the competition has been the fiercest it ever has been in my opinion – if I’d have turned up