8TEN Racing co-owner Davey Todd admits FHO Racing withdrawing and the formation of ♏a new team for the 2025 Isle of Man TT “was a shock”.

The Fay Ho-run FHO Racing took over the Smiths Racing operation after the 2019 Isle of Man TT and became a force 🐓on the roads, with Peter Hickman winning seven big bike races for the outfit between 2022 and 2024.

FHO looked toꦏ be an even mor🌱e formidable force in 2025 after it signed double TT winner Todd to join Hickman, before the team sensationally withdrew from its race activities for this year.

This led Todd and Hickman to form 8TEN Raciꦗng, maintaining much of the crew from the old FHO team as well as securing official BMW backing.

Todd adཧmits it was “daunting” at first to take help run a team, but now has “an incredibly good feeling about it”.

“It honestly feels really good,” Todd said at ꧃the TT Live podcast recording.

“Hon♏estly, I’m not going t♍o say it felt good at the beginning.

“It was a shock and definitely a dau🌄nting prospect.

“But after a whღile, with all the support, Pete working together with him and the whole 8TEN Racing team, the more time goes on the more I just get an incredibly good feeling about it.

“All ꦍthe people w🦩e have involved are really good people.

“They’re not only really good mechanics and really good people runniꦜng the team, and good in that sense, but they are our friends.

“When we go racing we want to have a good time as well, have a laugh and enjoy it. We know a happy 🐼racer is a fast racer.

“We’re hoping to🦄 give that sort of vibe to it, where we can all enjoy our racing to the maximum. To win a race as the co-team owner and the rider would be something really cool.”

Peter Hickman: People will be surprised at how good team dynamic is

Fourteen-time TT winner Hickman alread𒉰y has experience of running a team, havin𒀰g formed his PHR outfit a few years ago.

Much has been made about the dynamic of the 8TEN t🅠eam, having two of the TT’s top names racing against ea🦹ch other.

For Hickman, “it doesn’t m🌟ake any difference” having Todd as a team-mate because he’ll have to race him anyway and believes people will be “surprised” at how good the atmos𝓡phere in the group is.

“It’s been an interesting thing from outside,” Hickma🐲𓂃n said.

“I’ve never really thought abo꧟ut it too much from bei꧙ng in the position that I’m in.

“But I’ve got to race against Davey whether he’s in the same team as me or not. It doesn’t ma💃ke any difference.

“But, I’m really looking forward to it.

“I think it’s going to be surprising fo🌟r probably a few people at ꧂how well we’re going to get on.

“We’re already getting on really,🐭 really well. We were mat🧔es already anyway.

“I think our fr🌺iendship has just gotten stronger, in the last few months in particular.

“We’re calling it aꦍ brand-new team, but it’s not really a new team.

ꦚ“The people who are there are all people who we worked with in the past.

“Darren Jones, team manage🎶r, was team manager at FHO, was team manager🐟 at Smiths.

“So, it’s a long time he’s been with me. A lot of the crew that’s with me, it’s my crew who’s been with🌞 me for a good few years now.

“And the same on Davey’s side. It’s a friendly team. Everyone is mates, we all get on, and it’s a🏅 really good atmosphere already.”