Reigning Isle of Man Superbike TT winner Davey Todd has been excluded from this year’s North West 200 after failing his medical assessment for the race, only six weeks on from breaking his leg during qualifying for the Daytona 200 – and only three weeks out from the start of the 2026 TT.
“We are very disappointed that Davey will not be on the grid this year,” North West 200 race director Mervyn Whyte said in a statement released by the event on Tuesday afternoon.
“He has enjoyed a lot of success at the North West and has a huge following who will be equally disappointed. We would all have loved to have seen him out there racing but safety is paramount.”
Todd crashed twice in qualifying for the iconic Daytona race in early March, with missed crash damage from the first incident causing him to fall a second time and break his femur and tibia in the process.
“The boys did the best they could with the repair, and bear in mind we only had a 30-minute session,” Todd explained on a video posted to his social media afterwards.
“They fixed it with maybe 10 or 15 minutes to go, and I went back out and spun a couple of laps. I was just trying to set a decent enough lap time again because we had some issues in practice.
“Unfortunately something got missed; the steering lock on the bike. It basically wound out and got jammed.
“Three laps into that second run I did, coming out of Turn 2 in about fourth gear at around 120 to 130mph, the steering jammed and it basically steered me straight into the armco barrier on the inside of the track.”
Todd was a multiple race winner at last year’s North West 200 in Northern Ireland, but was involved in drama as well after being denied a win by local hero Michael Dunlop in controversial circumstances. Todd and team-mate and 8Ten Racing co-owner Peter Hickman threatened at the time not to return to the race.
This year’s North West was set to mark Todd’s comeback to racing after the Daytona crash after sitting out the opening round of the British Superbike championship at Oulton Park last weekend.
It now means he’s under even more pressure to be fit in time for the start of TT action on May 25.