Isle of Man TT racer to make comeback after sabbatical backed by Peter Hickman

Popular Irish road racer Derek Sheils will make his Isle of Man TT return in 2026 with a new team and ride BMW machinery prepared by Peter Hickman’s PHR Performance.

Sheils made his TT debut in 2013 and has been a mainstay on the road racing scene, as well as the Ulster Superbike Championship, ever since.

However, in recent years, he’s scaled back his racing activities, with his last outing at the TT coming in 2022, while his most recent road racing appearance was at Armoy in 2023.

In 2026, he will compete in a full campaign on the roads and in the Ulster Superbike series with Cosmic Racing, and will ride a BMW M1000RR prepared by 14-time TT winner Peter Hickman’s PHR Performance.

“I’ll be back next year with a new team called Cosmic Racing, which is a company run by Irish lads Matt Crosson and Ivor Hatton, who are in the wind turbine business in Australia,” The News Letter quotes him as saying.

“We have a brand new BMW M1000RR, which is being built as we speak by Peter Hickman’s PHR Performance, and we should have it in a couple of weeks.

“The team will have a whole new livery, and it’s going to be a good set-up.

“My plan with this team is to do a short circuit championship and a few road races on top of that; it just depends on what the schedule will be, so we’ll just get rolling and see what way things go from there.

“We’ve a little baby at home now, so things change, and that’s why I had taken a bit of a sabbatical from the road racing for a while.

“I’ve been busy with work, too, and I was finding it hard to get the racing in or get any training done.

“But things have settled down a bit now, so we’ll do a bit more racing next year and I’m already back training.

“I love the craic and I enjoy the racing side of it so much, so why ? We’ll have a bit of a shot at it again next year.”

The News Letter also report that Sheils is looking to add a second rider to the team for the TT and possibly the North West 200.

However, Sheils notes that participation in the latter hinges on finding the right rider.