Peter Hickman makes WorldSBK step with new 2026 category

Peter Hickman and his PHR Performance team will make the step into WorldSBK in 2026 and the new Sportbike class.

Running Triumph Daytona 660 machinery, the PHR Performance team will run in what will be the first season of the new World Sportbike class with official support from the British factory.

The step into World Superbike, and specifically its new Sportbike category, comes after two years of competing in the BSB Sportbike class, where PHR Triumph won with Richard Cooper in 2024.

Its 2025 effort was headed by Harrison Dessoy, who won races in 2025 and remains with the team for the step into the World Championship.

“I’m very excited to be taking part in the 2026 World Sportbike campaign, it’s a great opportunity for me,” said Dessoy.

“When I joined PHR it was a new challenge for me and a big step up into the British Championship, and now, just after one year, to be going into a World Championship – I’m stupidly excited and I think it will be a fantastic season. 

“A huge thanks to Pete [Hickman] and the team at Triumph for believing in me and giving me the opportunity to race in the world scene.”

Dessoy’s teammate will be Fenton Seabright, another race winner from the 2025 BSB Sportbike season, and a rider with previous World Championship experience in WorldSSP300, the class that WorldSPB replaces.

“I’m really looking forward to 2026, a move back to the World Superbike Championship is what we’ve been working towards since moving back to the British Superbike paddock in the Sportbike class, so I’m really happy with that,” Seabright said.

“I’m hoping that working with Pete [Hickman] and the PHR Performance team will allow me to fight at the front, win some races and have a shot of the WorldSPB crown.”

For Hickman, the maiden season of the WorldSPB series comes at the right time for his outfit after the experience it has gained in the past two seasons in Britain.

“I’m really excited about the opportunity for PHR Performance entering into a World Championship for the very first time, which was never really on the cards or a thought process I’d ever had,” said Hickman.

“But the opportunity has arisen, and I think we’re in the strongest position we could ever be in, having worked with the Triumph Daytona 660 for two years in the British Championship.

“We won with Richard [Cooper] in 2024 and won a few races this year with Harrison [Dessoy], and if it hadn’t been for his injury we could have won the championship, so I don’t think we could be in a stronger position. 

“We don’t know the circuits, but Fenton [Seabright] does and Harrison knows about half of them, but he knows the bike inside out, as do we. 

“I’m really looking forward to it and having Fenton onboard, it’s a super young team; everyone is under 22-years-old – the mechanics, electronics and the riders.

“So, it’s going to be an exciting time not only for PHR Performance but also for all the boys and also Triumph.”