After two successful seasons together, SMT Racing and Rob Hodson will continue their partnership for a third successive year at this year’s TT.
Hodson will again contest all solo races, riding an ex-Michael Dunlop Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP in the Superbike TT and Senior TT races and a similar Fireblade for the Superstock TT races.
His busy campaign will also see him line up on a Yamaha R6 (SMT / Vehicle Recovery Services Ltd) in the two Supersport TT races and a Paton S1-R in the Supertwin TT races.
Since racing resumed around the Mountain Course in 2022, 38-year-old Hodson has made good strides forward, taking no less than 16 top 15 finishes, six of those inside the top ten and this year will again see him deservedly seeded for all classes.
Career-Best
The Wigan rider has benefitted greatly since joining Robin Croft’s highly professional SMT Racing outfit with 2023 seeing him take a career-best of fifth in the second Supertwin race. He also claimed tenth in the Senior with a new personal best lap of 130.327mph, his first 130mph+ lap.
Last year saw him not quite hit those heights with initial progress hampered by a spill in qualifying at Whitegates but nevertheless it was another strong campaign with four more top 15 finishes including a seventh in the second Supertwin TT.
Solid
Rob Hodson said: “One of the most pleasing aspects about the year ahead is continuing with SMT Racing for a third year; we’ve had a good couple of years already so 2025 will hopefully be more of the same.
“I’m also looking forward to having my first TT on a full-blown Superbike thanks to the team purchasing the bike from Hawk Racing. We ran it at the Macau Grand Prix in November, so I already have a few miles under our belt.
“We’ve a good set up across the classes and I’ll be aiming to get back in amongst the top ten and 130mph+ laps in the big bike races. Whilst running four bikes this year will bring its own challenges, if I can make progress on them all, we’ll have another good TT so that’s the clear aim.”
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