Former Ulster Superbike champion Jonny Campbell considering Irish road racing debut in 2027

The Lisburn rider won the Ulster Superbike title for the first time in 2024 aged 21, becoming the second youngster rider ever to achieve the feat after Castledawson’s Nico Mawhinney.

Campbell was recognised for his achievement at the Irish Motorbike Awards in Belfast in 2025, where he was crowned the Short Circuit Rider of the Year on Irish circuits.

Currently second in this year’s Ulster Superbike Championship – 22 points behind reigning champion Carl Phillips with three rounds remaining – Campbell is considering his options for next season and admits he would jump at the chance to race at the North West 200 – Ireland’s premier motorcycle race.

The short circuit frontrunner had looked at competing in the National Superstock 1000 series in the British Superbike Championship, but the costs involved for a full season are financially unviable for Campbell and his family-run privateer team.

“To do a round, I think an entry for Superstock 1000 is £550 – just for the entry,” Campbell said.

“You’ve a minimum of three or four sets of tyres, then you have your boat, fuel, food for the weekend, so you’re talking maybe £4,000 for one round.

“At the end of the day, I live half an hour from here [Bishopscourt], I’m riding my bike, taking some trophies home and a cheque.

“So it’s just weighing it all up, what do you do? You never know, I might have to have a wee stab at the roads.

“If the budget was there [to race at the North West 200] I’d be all over it like a rash.”

Campbell was impressed by young Ulster Supersport rider Ross Moore’s sensational road racing debut at the Mid Antrim 150 at Clough two weeks ago, where the Kells rider won both Senior Support races – perhaps giving Campbell food for thought.

“He went to the Mid Antrim and nobody expected anything, didn’t matter if he finished last, he was there for a bit of fun and no pressure, but he went and won two races,” Campbell said.

“When he came in, he said ‘Jonny, you need to go and have a stab at that, it’s great craic’.

“I was talking to Mike Browne and [Richard] Cooper and they were saying, ‘I hear you’re going to come and join us on the roads’, and I was like, ‘you never know!’

“I’d be going for a bit of fun, just to see what it was like. I said to Dad, if I go out in qualifying and it’s not for me and scare myself, then I’d just forget it.

“It all comes down to money. I don’t feel I’ve anything else to prove here – I’ve won races, I’ve won the Superbike championship, and now it’s just a case of, ‘will we just pick and choose and have a bit of fun now’.”