TT 2026: Davey Todd 'realistic' over decision to exclude him from racing - 'I don't want my leg to be messed up for the future'
Three-time Isle of Man TT winner Davey Todd says he has come to terms with the organisers’ decision not to permit him to race this year following his crash at the Daytona 200 in March.
Todd suffered injuries including a broken left femur and right tibia in the incident.
The 30-year-old underwent surgery in the USA before spending six weeks at the elite Formula Medicine facility in Italy in his bid to be fit for the start of the major road races.
However, he was deemed unfit to compete at the North West 200 this month and later received confirmation that he had also been declared medically unfit to race at the TT.
The 8TEN Racing BMW rider, who co-owns the team with fellow TT winner Peter Hickman, says he understands the decision from the TT’s perspective and does not “disagree with their verdict”.
Speaking on the Scruff Bags podcast, Todd said he felt the writing was on the wall after his exclusion from the North West 200.
“That’s when the panic sort of set in because I knew the TT guys were doing way more research into it because they’d been asking for certain documents and scans, and updates on what I could or couldn’t do,” he said.
“I knew it wasn’t going to look good to the TT organisers; I spoke to a couple of the TT guys and they said they wouldn’t be leaving it until the morning of practice or the day before.
“Sure enough they came back, asked for a call and I went on the call, and as much as I did try and argue… they went through every detail and every reason, and said basically, ‘your leg’s still in four pieces and you’re not fit to ride – what’s to say you’re not going to get to the bottom of Bray Hill and the rod [in his leg] is going to bend, because your bone isn’t doing anything right now, it’s not fully knitted together’.
“Realistically you couldn’t argue with them because they gave me all the info. I don’t want my leg to be messed up for the future and being years down the line and really struggling with my femur… I don’t want that, I do want a long career.
“I’m trying to be positive. I’m realistic and I see their side of things and it makes sense, so I don’t disagree with their verdict.”
Todd will attend the TT to support team-mate Hickman, who was ruled out of the event in 2025 following a high-speed crash in qualifying.
Hickman has won 14 times around the Mountain Course and is the outright lap record holder at 136.358mph.