Rob Hodson to ride ex-Michael Dunlop Honda at 2025 Isle of Man TT

Rob Hodson will return to the Isle of Man TT with the SMT team for the third year in succession at the event’s 2025 edition, with a change in machinery in the Superbike class.

Hodson will again contest all four solo classes – Superbike, Superstock, Supersport, and Supertwin – but there are some changes within his line-up of bikes for this year.

In the Supersport class, the 38-year-old road racer will again race a Yamaha R6, and it will be a Paton S1-R again in the Supertwin class. Indeed, in the Superstock class he is set to race a Honda CBR1000RR-R again, but in the Superbike class 2025 will mark a first for Hodson.

SMT’s purchase of an ex-Michael Dunlop Superbike-spec Honda CBR1000RR-R – which Hodson rode for the first time at last year’s weather-hit Macau Grand Prix – means that this year’s TT will be the first time Hodson will race the Superbike-class races on a Superbike-spec machine, rather than a re-plated Superstock bike.

Having lapped faster than 130mph on 1,000cc machinery for the first time in 2024, Hodson is aiming to benefit from the continuity he has with the SMT team in combination with the step up in top-class machinery and get himself consistently into the top-10.

“Overall, I was pleased with last year’s results as it was another solid week of riding,” said Hodson.

“We had the off in qualifying and, of course, poor weather, so I perhaps didn’t make as much progress as I would have liked but four top 15 finishes are nothing to be sniffed at.

“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.”

He added: “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-plus 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.”