James Hillier finds a last-gasp deal to race at Isle of Man TT

James Hillier links up with former team who planned to sit out of the TT

14 Apr 2025

James Hillier has reunited with some familiar faces in a last-ditch deal to ride at the 2025 Isle of Man TT.

Hillier will rejoin Bournemouth Kawasaki after the collapse of WTF Racing.

But he will still feature at the TT next month after striking a new deal with Bournemouth Kawasaki, who had planned to sit the event out.

Hillier will race in two Supersport races for Bournemouth Kawasaki at the TT, riding a Ninja ZX-6R.

He is seeded at No5 in the list of top 20 Supersport riders.

Hillier said: “After a difficult few days, it was great to secure a ride back with Pete and Bournemouth Kawasaki, especially as it was back with my Kawasaki ZX-6R from last year.

“We both know what we need to do, and I am sure we will hit the ‘25 TT running.

“Massive thanks to the team and everyone who has helped get this sorted at such short notice.”

Pete Extance, Team Owner of Bournemouth Kawasaki, said: “2025 started with the idea of having a year out of the TT, but when that changed, we were only too happy to speak with James and put a deal together for him to ride the Bournemouth Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R.

“It didn’t take long for us to agree on a deal with James to return, and we set to work preparing the bike for the TT starting in the last week of May.

“We firmly believe James and the team have podium potential, and hopefully, that second TT career win that James richly deserves.”

Ross Burridge, Head of Marketing & Racing Department at Kawasaki Motors UK, said: “It was a shame to see what happened to James earlier this month; however, it has presented us with a great opportunity to have another go at getting on that Supersport podium at the Isle of Man TT.

“James and the team have a huge amount of experience with the bike and attacking the event in general, so we are confident it will be a great two weeks. I would like to thank Kawasaki Insurance for getting on board at this late stage and helping put the team in a position to go full throttle into the two races at the end of this month.”