Hickman and Todd out of BSB for 2026

[theoperative]

8 Ten Racing has withdrawn from the remainder of the 2026 BSB season, citing differing specs as an issue along with Hicky still recovering from last years off and Todd still injured from Daytona.

Apparently pure roads will still feauture with Hicky doing the Chimay Belgian road races

[Jazoli]

That s no surprise really given their recent form (prior to their injuries) Hickman is a proven race winner but has not been competitive in recent years and Todd does not seem to be competitive on a Superbike on the short circuits compared to his results on a STK1000.

It’s a shame to lose two bikes on the grid but will hopefully give them the time to recover and reassess.

[PorkInsider]

Apart from the big injuries Hicky and DT are both carrying, BMW really need to come up with something for BSB if they want to be remotely competitive.

There were big hopes for Mikhalchik moving up to Superbike, after his outstanding performance on the stocker. but he's not managed to score a single point yet, either.

I don't blame 8Ten at all for not wanting to spend the massive time, money and effort contending with injuries and a very uncompetitive bike to no effect in BSB.

Edited by PorkInsider on Tuesday 16th June 22:26

[Opapayer]

Just seen this elsewhere.

Injuries, or the challenge of running a team catching up with them, or just a dispute over technical regs? Whichever it is, or whatever other reason this is another team out of BSB. 16 teams and of those 10 are single rider teams left. A lot of those teams are rider funded and / or trying to compete where they can’t too. I hope the smaller teams are helped to find funds to compete with the bigger teams, as constantly running out of the points at the back of the field can’t be good for their futures.

I love BSB, it’s the one series that always grabs my attention, but it needs to do something, because it is dying a death by a thousand cuts.

[PorkInsider]

Opapayer said:

Injuries, or the challenge of running a team catching up with them, or just a dispute over technical regs?

From what I've read and heard, they just can't get the BMW to perform with the BSB mandated Motec ECU, no matter how hard they work at it.

With both riders struggling with injuries, and pretty much a thankless task as far as BSB goes, it's understandable that they're throwing the towel in.

The bike is, by all accounts, fine in Superstock trim (factory ECU) and in Superbike spec' outside of BSB where they can choose their electronics, but it's a no-hoper with the Motec.

[Mr Tidy]

I didn't know that, but in that situation it makes sense to stop throwing money into BSB when they know they can't be competitive.

[Rob 131 Sport]

I wonder whether the team will disband and the riders and crew will seek employment elsewhere.

In the alternative will they enter the Superstock championship.

[theoperative]

Rob 131 Sport said:

I wonder whether the team will disband and the riders and crew will seek employment elsewhere.

In the alternative will they enter the Superstock championship.

I think a) more likely than b), although in Todd's case you never know as he does have form in Superstock. It may well be that they look at binning the BMW's off entirely because i think they are the only team running them now in BSB and although they have been THE bike for the roads the last few years, this year suggests that dominance may be coming to an end.

[John D.]

theoperative said:

I think a) more likely than b), although in Todd's case you never know as he does have form in Superstock. It may well be that they look at binning the BMW's off entirely because i think they are the only team running them now in BSB and although they have been THE bike for the roads the last few years, this year suggests that dominance may be coming to an end.

Hickman went pretty well at the IOM TT considering he's still recovering and Todd obviously didn't even ride. Not sure you can write them off on the roads yet with that package.

The BSB team has always seemed a bit odd to me. Bike isn't competitive, seems a lot on the riders plate being team owners as well, and without Faye Ho backing it wheres the money coming from?

[Rob 131 Sport]

John D. said:

theoperative said:

I think a) more likely than b), although in Todd's case you never know as he does have form in Superstock. It may well be that they look at binning the BMW's off entirely because i think they are the only team running them now in BSB and although they have been THE bike for the roads the last few years, this year suggests that dominance may be coming to an end.

Hickman went pretty well at the IOM TT considering he's still recovering and Todd obviously didn't even ride. Not sure you can write them off on the roads yet with that package.

The BSB team has always seemed a bit odd to me. Bike isn't competitive, seems a lot on the riders plate being team owners as well, and without Faye Ho backing it wheres the money coming from?

I’m sure both Davey and Peter would be on many teams shopping lists.

However, you just get the impression in BSB that they don’t have the big money backers like a few years ago. Fay Ho leaving the BSB paddock was a big loss in my opinion.

[theoperative]

John D. said:

theoperative said:

I think a) more likely than b), although in Todd's case you never know as he does have form in Superstock. It may well be that they look at binning the BMW's off entirely because i think they are the only team running them now in BSB and although they have been THE bike for the roads the last few years, this year suggests that dominance may be coming to an end.

Hickman went pretty well at the IOM TT considering he's still recovering and Todd obviously didn't even ride. Not sure you can write them off on the roads yet with that package.

Valid point and i wasn't writing the BMW off , merely suggesting that other brands maybe catching them up on the roads, look at Dunlop and Harrison on the Honda's at this years TT.
Granted Hickman was injured and Todd wasn't riding but the Honda was by far the dominant bike like it was a few years back, maybe it's a cyclical thing and it's the bike to have again.
Hicky and Davey will always be fast on the roads, up there with Harrison and Dunlop but maybe the BMW isn't the bike to be on anymore. Is anyone running them in Superbikes anymore?

[PorkInsider]

I do think the only reason the Honda was dominant was because of Harrison's superhuman efforts and Hicky not being on form.

I'm not sure the Honda is anything more than a match for the BMW - it certainly didn't look it at any of the spectating spots I was at on the course, anyway.

[PorkInsider]

theoperative said:

Rob 131 Sport said:

I wonder whether the team will disband and the riders and crew will seek employment elsewhere.

In the alternative will they enter the Superstock championship.

I think a) more likely than b), although in Todd's case you never know as he does have form in Superstock. It may well be that they look at binning the BMW's off entirely because i think they are the only team running them now in BSB and although they have been THE bike for the roads the last few years, this year suggests that dominance may be coming to an end.

As mentioned previously, Mikhalchik is on a factory backed BMW in the Superbike class this year.

He's scored 0 points so far after being massively impressive on the BMW stocker last year.

The issue seems to be with the compulsory Motec ECU not suiting the BMWs at all.

Last year on the stocker, in his first ever race at Donnington, Mikhalchik won by 7 seconds and his best race lap was a 1:28:01

This year on the full Superbike, now with much more experience of the circuit, across all 3 races of the round his best was 1:28:36

[Opapayer]

I’m not sure it’s all the BMWs fault. Roads and short circuit are two very different disciplines and it’s very rare for someone to succeed in both at the same time. Some people switch from one to the other exclusively and succeed, but even they are very rare.

The BMW clearly doesn’t work that well though with the controlled ECU, which is possibly a wider issue for BSB. No more R1s being made, no more ZX10Rs, is the new GSXR1000 a serious proposition?, the RSV4 is very long in the tooth (is it 1100 anyway?), Honda have been producing a not great Fireblade for ages now, not sure the Bimota is a long term option, so there are only two 1000cc bikes being made and if one of them doesn’t work then it’s a one brand Ducati race.

The lack of 1000cc bikes being made is the real existential threat to BSB. Nobody really wants the top guys pissing about on 900s with less power than was being raced a decade ago. It’s fine as a support series but if it becomes the top race then what do we get below that 400cc? Most of us would shirk at buying or praising one of those if we saw one in the road so hardly appealing to watch as a race series.

They have to find a way to make the BMW viable even if it only kicks the lack of 1000cc bikes down the road for a couple of years.

[stang65]

Opapayer said:

They have to find a way to make the BMW viable even if it only kicks the lack of 1000cc bikes down the road for a couple of years.

The rules definitely need looking into. For me, it's time to be more stringent - super stock spec engines and electronics with super bike chassis. It would also enable the smaller teams to compete on a more level playing field. If the UK can lead and get the rest of Europe to follow suit then viable wild cards would come back to the fold too.