The Isle of Man TT is little more under a week away so now is the perfect time to look at which riders will be the front runners around the Snaefell Mountain Course come next week.
Racing on closed off public roads is very different to racing around short circuits. This will mean for riders who are fighting at the front in the likes of BSB that they may not be fighting for wins at the TT. The best way to determine which riders to keep an eye on next week in Qualifying Week for the TT is to look at last years road races, and the North West 200 that took place just over a week ago.
Most recently the North West 200 has given us an early look at who we could expect to see running at the sharp end around the Snaefell Mountain Course next week.
The week long event in Northern Ireland could have been treated as a warm up to the main road race of the year by the usual front runners. Looking at the North West 200 and last years Isle of Man TT allow us to get an idea of where we could see some riders.
But other than the obvious riders of Peter Hickman, Michael Dunlop, John McGuinness and Dean Harrison where who are the other riders who we should keep an eye on?
Josh Brookes:
The first rider who a lot of people will be keeping an eye on at the Isle of Man due to his BSB performances will be Josh Brookes. Currently the Australian is third in the British Superbike Championship on board his FHO Racing BMW M1000RR, which he will also race at the TT. Brookes has not raced around the Isle of Man since 2018, when he finished 10th in the Superbike TT on a Norton.
The two time British Superbike Champion is a hard rider to predict when it comes to the TT due to the fact that he did not race at the North West. Brookes left the North West early after FHO Racing pulled out of the event due to controversy around their carbon wheels.
However, on the Superbike grid Brookes had managed to qualify sixth place overall, behind four other TT competitors. But Brookes was 2.2 seconds slower than his team-mate and Isle of Man TT benchmark rider, Peter Hickman. If Brookes can adapt well to being back at the TT then there is a strong chance he could fight for top five finishes.
Davey Todd:
A rider who you can expect to see towards the front in the Superbike, Superstock and Supersport class is Davey Todd. The Milenco by Padgett's rider is quickly establishing himself as a top level road racer especially when it comes to the Supersport class.
Last year at the TT Todd finished 8th and 4th in the Supersport events, Todd has since backed up these results by winning both Supersport races around the North West 200. When it comes to the Supersport TT events expect to see Todd battling to claim a podium this year on his Honda.
In the Senior TT race last Todd also finished just off of the podium as he finished 4th place. Once again Todd was competitive at the North West on the Padgett's Honda Superbike as he finished runner up to Glenn Irwin.
Todd is one of those riders that could break into the podium across multiple classes at the TT in the next week.
James Hillier:
The Dakar finisher and Road Racer will tackle the Isle of Man TT once again this year with OMG Racing in the Superbike and Superstock class. James Hillier will be onboard a Yamaha R1 once again around the iconic mountain course.
Most recently Hillier raced for OMG Racing around the North West 200 in the Superstock class. In the two races that he took part in he finished 6th and 5th place, putting himself in a decent form ahead of the TT.
Last year Hillier also took part in the TT for OMG Racing onboard a R1. He finished 7th in the Superbike TT event, 5th and 7th in the Supersport events on board a R6 and then he finished 6th in the Senior TT event on board his R1.
Expect to see Hillier scrapping for top five finishes this year at the TT to carry over the form that he showed last year and at the TT.
Images from Pacemaker Press
