North West 200 treble hero Davey Todd will join forces with the FHO Racing BMW team in a formidable line-up for the 56th Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix next month.
He has been brought into the BMW’s official road racing team for owner Faye Ho’s home race alongside four-time winner Peter Hickman and the evergreen Michael Rutter, who holds the record of nine victories around the Guia street course in southern China.
Rutter qualified fifth fastest when he rode the FHO Racing BMW at Macau for the first time last November but was forced out of the race early on because of brake issues.
Todd, who finished second last year behind Hickman when he rode BMW machinery for the Dungannon-based Burrows/RK Racing team, earned the man of the meeting award at the North West in May after winning both Superstock races and a Supersport race.
In an unforgettable year for the 29-year-old, Todd also clinched his first victories at the Isle of Man TT with a Superstock success and a dream win in the showpiece Senior event for Northern Ireland team TAS Racing on the Milwaukee BMW, and was crowned National Superstock 1000 champion for a second time.
However, after only one season with the Moneymore-based TAS team, Todd now seems set for a big move to FHO Racing for 2025, when he will compete in the British Superbike Championship and major road races.
Rutter’s protégé, Craig Neve, will ride a Bathams-backed FHO Racing BMW in a four-rider line-up for the high-profile team at the event, which takes place from November 14-16.
Paul Jordan from Magherafelt — seventh in 2023 — is the sole representative from Northern Ireland on the Jackson Racing Honda Fireblade, with team-mate Julian Trummer also making the trip to the Far East.
The 20-rider field includes Finland’s Erno Kostamo, who won the Covid-impacted race in 2022, when big guns including Hickman, Todd and Rutter were absent.
Kostamo will also ride a BMW M1000RR machine and the International Road Racing Championship (IRRC) frontrunner will be aiming to force his way into podium contention.
Other IRRC riders include Italy’s Luca Gottardi (BMW), Frenchman Almaric Blanc (Honda) and Belgium’s Laurent Hoffmann (BMW), while Macau regular Sam West will ride a BMW M1000RR.
Wigan’s Rob Hodson, fifth last year on an SMT Honda, returns to the invitation-only race, while the Dafabet RC Express Racing Kawasaki team will run Manx Grand Prix winner Matt Stevenson and Michael Evans on Kawasaki ZX-10RR machines.
Notable newcomers this year include promising young Manx rider Marcus Simpson on a Honda Fireblade and Ryan Whitehall from the Isle of White, who will ride a Yamaha R1.
Practice is scheduled to commence on Thursday, November 14 with qualifying taking place the following day, and the 12-lap race running on Saturday, November 16.