Motorbikes

There's no buzz like the Isle of Man TT, Davey Todd explains to MAT OXLEY. But everything else is dull in comparison...

- MAT OXLEY

Many years ago it was entirely normal for motorcycle racers to split their time between Brands Hatch and the Isle of Man TT. Nowadays, much less so. Short circuits and road circuits are different games, so most bike racers want to be masters of one, not jacks of both.

That's why Davey Todd is different. Last year he became the first rider in decades to win a British championship and a TT in the same year. And the plan is to repeat the feat in 2025.

The 29-year-old Yorkshireman won his first TT last June, bettering the event's main men, Michael Dunlop and Peter Hickman, in the Superstock race. A few days later he added victory in the Senior TT after lap-record holder Hickman crashed out at Ginger Hall, consoling himself with a pint in the nearby pub. Todd's helmet-cam lap from 2024 is a must-watch on YouTube.

Todd is better than most at describing the sensation of racing around the world's oldest racetrack, which is basically 37 miles of winding country roads, around which he averages 135mph, reaching 200mph.

"In a sense, riding the TT sort of ruins everything else in your life," he says. "Because once you've had that level of buzz and thrill, that level of adrenaline, you can't get it from anything else. I do all kinds of extreme sports - things like skydiving, bungee jumping and snowboarding - striving to get that buzz from something else, but I don't think it's possible.