The worst kept secret in road racing has finally been made official, with the FHO Racing BMW team confirming that 2024 Senior TT winner Davey Todd will join 14-time race winner Peter Hickman in a factory BMW backed dream team for the 2025 Isle of Man TT.
The news that Todd will replace Australian double British Superbike champion Josh Brookes in the team has been paddock knowledge for some time, with Todd set to race for the team at this weekend’s Macau Grand Prix. His 2024 TT success came with BMW privateer team Milwaukee.
Now officially a full member of the squad for 2025, it marks a significant step up both for FHO and for BMW, with its road racing effort essentially doing what Ducati decided against doing in MotoGP by placing both its established factory superstar (Pecco Bagnaia/Hickman) and the rising star from a private team (Jorge Martin/Todd) together in the works line-up.
Hickman had something of a difficult TT in 2024, losing out to both Todd and the historic race’s new most successful rider ever Michael Dunlop.
And, with the team very much looking to get back to winning ways in 2025, its new signing believes his arrival will elevate not just his own level but also raise the performances of his friend and team-mate as well.
“I still love hearing those words ‘TT winner,’” Todd said, “and it’s cool to be going back as the reigning champion in those races and I’m definitely looking to add some more next year.
“BMW wanted to have Pete and myself in the same team, and we all want to be the dominant force.
“Pete’s a good friend of mine and there can only be positives from being in the same team. We’re similar personalities in that we both do our talking on the racetrack but are very laid back and chilled out away from it.
“Being alongside each other can only make us both faster and stronger as we’ll share each other’s data and help each other out, improving our strengths and limiting our weaknesses. It can only be a benefit to each of us.”
It also consolidates BMW’s status as perhaps the premier factory when it comes to TT investment, with the German brand committing heavily to the event in recent years - and seeing a return on it, too, with Hickman racking up multiple superbike class wins for it at the event.
The pair will also commit to a full season in the British Superbike championship, partly as preparation for their TT campaign, with the domestic series offering valuable track time in the build up to the one-off event on the Isle of Man in June.
The factory-run Honda Racing team has also announced its squad for 2025, with TT legend John McGuinness once again returning to the event alongside three-time winner Dean Harrison in an unchanged line-up.
