'I'll only know if I try' - Isle of Man TT star Conor Cummins in 'eyes wide open' approach after launching new team Conrod Motorsport
Conor Cummins admits he is approaching his latest venture with a large dose of reality as he attempts to get his Conrod Motorsport team off the ground ahead of the 2026 Isle of Man TT.
The Manx rider announced his plans last week after parting company from Northern Ireland’s Burrows Engineering/RK Racing team, with Cummins initially focused on the Superstock races next year on a machine yet to be confirmed.
The Ramsey man is also weighing up his options for the Superbike and Supersport classes.
Cummins remains the sixth fastest rider ever around the 37.73-mile Mountain Course after clocking a speed of 133.116mph in the Superstock class at the TT in 2022
This year, he achieved Dungannon team Burrows Racing’s fastest TT lap at 131.5mph on a BMW M1000RR and finished sixth and fifth in the Superstock races respectively in June.
The 39-year-old has wider ambitions of expanding his newly launched team in the future, but for now, Cummins’ focus is simply on making it to the grid next year.
“I’m going into this with my eyes wide open because money is going to make the team go around, it’s as simple as that, so I appreciate the world’s in a very weird place at the minute with everything,” he told Manx Radio.
“You need backers to make this happen, there’s no two ways about it; I can put the infrastructure in place because over the years I’ve built some strong relationships, and I’d like to believe with this now taking place, I can call on those relationships that I’ve built, put it all into practice, and get us on the grid.
“There’s got to be an eyes-wide-open approach to this and being totally realistic, there’s going to be some blood, sweat and tears, but that’s what I’ve always done to be honest – I’m not shy of putting the effort in, and that’s how I’ve grown my business.
“Obviously, we’ve had some good help along the way with the business side of things as well and I’ve got a great team of people on board in that respect, so the idea is to replicate that for my race team and the idea is to have the right people there to share the burden of the graft to get us to the grid.
“Money is going to make this work, or not, and I’m only being realistic; I’m only going to know if I try, so I’m right up for it,” added Cummins, who has been inspired to take on this new challenge by the success of his Douglas-based coffee business Conrod’s, launched in 2015.
“We’ve got to focus on what’s right under our noses at the moment and that’s getting year one dialled in and to the grid, but beyond that I’d like to have Conrod Motorsport sitting as a go-to team for riders who want to progress to getting to the TT; I’d like to grow it to maybe getting across the water to some of the British championship rounds as well, but that’s a little bit pie in the sky at the minute.
“We’ve got to look at funding to get the project off the ground and right now the focus is right under our noses. I just want to be totally realistic and get to the grid for TT 2026.”
A TT win has eluded Cummins so far, but he has 12 podiums to his name, including a runner-up finish in the Superstock class most recently in 2022, making him one of the event’s most consistent competitors.