James Hillier “shocked” by OMG Racing collapse: “Where I stand at the minute I don’t know”

James Hillier has spoken of the “shock” he felt when it was announced that OMG Racing, and subsequently WTF Racing, have both withdrawn from racing this year.

One-time TT winner Hillier first rode for Alan Gardner’s OMG team on the roads in 2022 on a Yamaha R1. In 2024, when OMG became the official Yamaha UK entry to BSB, the OMG banner disappeared from road racing, but was replaced by WTF Racing.

Under Gardner’s ownership, like OMG, WTF ran Honda machinery last year, taking top-five finishes in all four 1,000cc races at last year’s Isle of Man TT.

Hillier, who also rode under the WTF name at this year’s Dakar Rally, was set to return to WTF this year, again on a Honda CBR1000RR-R, but the recent announcements of the fall of OMG and WTF have left Hillier effectively ride-less, just a few days before he was set to begin his 2025 testing programme in Spain.

“My phone’s been pretty crazy since [Tuesday] afternoon when the news was released,” Hillier said in a video posted to his Instagram account.

“That was honestly a big shock, I really didn’t see that coming; it’s not great timing, especially on April Fools’ Day.

“I wished it was a joke but unfortunately it isn’t.

“I also want to say a big thank you to Alan Gardner for all the effort and time he’s put into racing; with OMG and WTF – the whole team, actually, [...] it’s hard on everybody, so a big thank you for their efforts in the past.

“But, where I stand at the minute I don’t quite know, it’s a work in progress to try and sort some machinery and get something in place.

“We’ve not got a whole lot of time, we were supposed to be on the new bikes this coming weekend in Spain, testing, which I was really looking forward to, actually, and that’s now not happening so we have to work something out, get something in place, but I will share what I can with you when I can.

“Hopefully in the coming days we’ll have some good news, but I need to get my thinking hat on and get raising some funds, really, because that’s going to be the biggest thing: funding the operation, which certainly in today’s economic climate is not easy.”