NW200: Davey Todd ruled unfit to race after decision by Chief Medical Officer in wake of Daytona 200 crash
Davey Todd has been ruled out of the North West 200 following a decision by the Chief Medical Officer on Tuesday.
The nine-time winner, who secured a treble at the event in 2025 with wins in the Superbike and Superstock races, sustained injuries including a broken left femur and right tibia in a crash at the Daytona 200 in the USA in March.
Following surgery in America, Todd completed an intensive six-week recovery programme at the elite Formula Medicine clinic in Italy, where clients include MotoGP riders and Formula 1 drivers.
The 30-year-old was back on a motorbike for the first time since the accident last week at the Ricardo Tormo circuit at Valencia in Spain, completing three test sessions.
However, the Yorkshireman has been deemed unfit to race.
Event Director Mervyn Whyte said: “We are very disappointed that Davey will not be on the grid this year. 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.”
On Saturday, Todd said that while he was “struggling to walk”, he felt surprisingly comfortable on the bike during the test at Valencia.
“The first session was a bit steady and I felt rusty in myself, and needed to get some confidence back,” Todd said.
“I started the day on an old set of tyres, didn’t change them all day, and by the last session they were absolutely smoked, and I was doing lap times that were basically only a couple of seconds off what I was doing there in January on good tyres.
“I wasn’t there to look at lap times or to do lap times, it was just to get a feeling of whether I was actually going to be able to ride a bike or not.
“I’m struggling to walk, if I’m honest, and that’s probably the biggest issue at the moment,” he said.
“Still in a bit of pain, but we’re still relatively early days with the recovery, but it’s one of those where I just get on a bike and it seems to feel a little bit more natural than doing anything else.”
Todd co-owns the 8TEN Racing BMW team with Peter Hickman, who is among the top contenders this week at the first major road race of 2026.