Peter Hickman and Davey Todd will not feature in the British Superbike Championship for the remainder of 2026 following LEW 8TEN Racing’s withdrawal from the series.
It’s been a tough 18 months for the team onboard a bike which has struggled to be competitive in BSB spec. Not only this, but both men have suffered serious injuries in the past 18 months.
Hickman missed the majority of 2025 after sustaining multiple injuries in a crash at the Isle of Man TT , whilst Todd is currently out of action due to the injuries he sustained in a crash at the Daytona 200 in the USA.
Hickman bounced back brilliantly at this year’s TT with four podiums, including two second-place finishes in the Senior TT and Superbike TT , however with positive results hard to come by in BSB, the decision has been made to step away for the time being.
“It’s obviously been a difficult call, but the priority is to get back to where I know I can be,” Hickman said. “The differences in bike spec at BSB makes that progression difficult to manage properly at the moment. BSB has been a huge part of my career, and I’ve loved every minute of it, but sometimes you have to sit back and prioritise and that’s exactly what we are doing.
“We appreciate this won’t be the news fans wanted to hear, but our focus has to be on returning both the riders and the team to the level of competitiveness that we and our partners expect.”
Hickman is an eight-time BSB race winner, with his last victory coming for FHO Racing BMW during the 2022 season finale at Brands Hatch. That victory was Hickman’s 25th, and, as it stands, his last BSB podium.
Hickman will continue to compete in selected events during 2026 on the same specification machinery he races on the roads.
Despite his best efforts, Todd was deemed unfit to ride at both the North West 200 and Isle of Man TT this year. The two-time National Superstock champion first competed in BSB in 2023 with the Milenco by Padgetts Honda team in 2023, before returning once more with 8TEN Racing, which he co-owns with Hickman , in 2025.
“It’s been a tough first half of the year for both Peter and Davey at 8TEN Racing and so we fully understand and support their desire to get back to full fitness,” BMW Motorrad Head of Motorsport, Sven Blusch, said.
“The British Superbike Championship is without question one of the most fiercely competitive domestic championships in the world, and one very important to us at BMW Motorrad, so we have every intention of continuing our commitment to the series, both this season, also in National Superstock, and with eyes on a renewed effort in 2027.”
A BMW rider hasn’t finished on a BSB podium since Leon Haslam finished third in Race Two at Oulton Park in September 2024. The last victory for a BMW rider came at Oulton Park in April 2023, when Josh Brookes secured his second victory of the season with FHO Racing BMW.
Sports Reporter - Motorcycle racing enthusiast Josh joined the MCN team in 2019. He studied Sports Journalism at the University of Sunderland, leaving with a 2:1 and a Gold Standard Diploma in Journalism from the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ). Introduced to the world of motorcycle racing by his dad as a youngster, Josh became a fan of MotoGP, WorldSBK and BSB. Like many, Josh became a huge Valentino Rossi supporter…little did he know that years later he would ask a question or two to the man himself.
Sports Reporter and fan of all things motorsport