Davey Todd ‘fired up’ by ‘big three’ Isle of Man TT talk before first wins
TT’s newest winner felt underrated going into 2024
Davey Todd admits not being factored alongside the Isle of Man TT’s ‘big three’ names prior to the 2024 event “fired me up” to take his maiden wins.
The English rider made his TT debut in 2018 and quickly established himself as a name to watch out for with his speed.
Scoring a first TT podium in 2022, a switch from Padgetts Honda to TAS Racing BMW for 2024 helped propel him to his first wins.
He took a maiden victory in the Superstock TT, before capping off race week with a stunning ride in the Senior to tally up his second win and a first for TAS in the class since 2004.
Coming into the event, Michael Dunlop, Peter Hickman and Dean Harrison were positioned as the event’s ‘big three’ names given their recent winning records - something Todd admits sat in his mind.
“I guess, to be honest, a lot of things contributed to it,” he said during the TT Live podcast.
“2023 wasn’t the year that I wanted it to be. ’23 was, I actually wanted ’23 to be what ’24 was, and that was the goal.
“I just had a nightmare of a year in 2023, I just had a few bike issues, a few other issues. I ended up getting sick in race week and it wrote me off for like half the races.
“So, just didn’t really go as I’d planned. So, I was pretty fired up going into ’24 because of that reason.
“In all honesty, not that I said to anybody, but in the back of my mind it did fire me up a little bit, the big three thing.
“Every time I heard it it fired me up inside that everyone was talking about the big three and nobody even thought I could do it.
“It felt to me if you were lucky you’d get a podium. I just wanted to prove that I can win races at the TT.
“So, I guess that lit a bit of a fire. From practice week I felt good, I felt happy with the bike. I felt ready for it.”
Having put in some promising pace during practice week, Todd believes this started to change perceptions of where he was in the pecking order.
“Probably before the end of practice week definitely a lot of people… not that I’d said anything,” he added.
“But people came up to me and said ‘everyone is talking about the big three, maybe we should have called it the big four’.
“But I’d already got my mind set on it, that little thought had already got stuck in my head.
“There’s a little bit more attention, but you don’t think about that.
“You know as a rider it’s just part of it, and your mindset is on what you’re doing and the racing and thinking about getting out there and trying to go as best you can.
“But at the same time, practice week doesn’t tell the full story.
“You’re not laying down your best laps.
“Nobody is necessarily laying it all down in practice, so you can’t be too confident because you probably always leave a bit in there for the races.
“I knew I had a bit more, but trying to think does Pete have a bit more, does Michael have a bit more? You just have to get out there and do what you can do.”
