Peter Hickman rules out Armoy debut but Davey Todd hopeful of road racing return

Peter Hickman will not make his debut at Armoy this July due to a schedule clash, although 8TEN Racing team-mate Davey Todd is pushing to make his first appearance since the Daytona 200. 

Hickman confirmed the news at the Southern 100 last week, which marked the 14-time Isle of Man TT winner’s debut around the 4.25-mile Billown Course. Hickman, together with Todd, is focusing solely on road racing for the remainder of 2026, after recently withdrawing the 8TEN Racing team from this year’s British Superbike Championship.

But Hickman will now miss this month’s road race in Northern Ireland after electing to compete in Belgium on the same weekend. 

Speaking to road racing commentator Chris Kinley on the Southern 100 chat show last week, Hickman said: 

“That is the same weekend as Chimay, so unfortunately I will not be there. But Davey [Todd] is doing his best to be fit, whether he is or not - obviously he got declared unfit again for this event - and Armoy is only a couple of weeks away, so how much his body is going to repair in that short amount of time I’m not so sure.

“But his target is to try and be at Armoy with the 8TEN bikes.”

Hickman’s next appearance will include a debut at Oliver’s Mount in Scarborough this weekend, before heading to Belgium straight after. For Todd, the next few days will serve as a race against time to see whether he will be declared fit for the ‘Race of Legends’ meeting at Armoy.

Despite his best efforts to be fit, Todd was declared unfit for the North West 200 and Isle of Man TT earlier this year. That meant Todd was unable to defend his Superbike TT win from 2025, a class that Honda Racing UK star Dean Harrison ultimately dominated at the 2026 TT.