- Cummins will race in four classes for three different teams
- Michael Rutter sits out after injury and leads the team solely as manager
- The BMW M1000RR comes from the 2025 British Superbike Championship
Twenty years after his TT debut, Conor Cummins is completely reshaping his program for this year’s Isle of Man TT. The 39-year-old rider from Ramsey has struck a deal with Bathams AJN Racing and will pilot the team’s BMW M1000RR in the RST Superbike TT and the Milwaukee Senior TT. It is the fullest race program Cummins has undertaken in years, and at the same time a fundamental reset of his TT campaign.
Three Teams, Four Classes: Cummins’ TT Lineup for 2026
The new deal with Bathams AJN Racing is only part of the overall package. In the two RL360 Superstock races, Cummins will continue to campaign his own BMW under the banner of his newly founded team Conrod Motorsport. For the Supersport class, he switches to a Suzuki GSX-R750, which he will race for North Lincs Components. This machine already knows the Mountain Course: James Hind rode it to fifth place (2024) and sixth place (2025) in the past two years.
The Superbike BMW on which Cummins will contest the two most prestigious races of the TT is no unknown quantity. It is the very M1000RR that Storm Stacey campaigned in the British Superbike Championship last season. Stacey himself is set for his debut at the North West 200.
Cummins described the opportunity as an easy decision: “Getting to ride the Bathams AJN BMW in the Superbike and Senior TT races will be a great addition to my 2026 TT plans. The team has got a lot of experience at the TT and with the BMW, so when the opportunity came up, it was an easy decision. The bike is the one which Storm Stacey used in BSB last year, so it’ll be really interesting to see what it’s like. In the meantime, it’s full steam ahead getting everything sorted at my end ready for what’s going to be a busy TT for me. I can’t wait!”
Rutter Sits Out After Crash at TT 2025
Behind the deal lies a personal story as well. Michael Rutter, seven-time TT winner and the most successful rider in the history of the Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix, will not race at TT 2026 himself. Rutter had already reduced his program to the Supertwin class the previous year and then sustained multiple injuries in a crash during the Supertwin race. His recovery is going well by his own account, but the last percentage points of fitness are still missing.
Rutter explained: “I must admit, going to the TT with the team this year and not riding is going to be very strange, but while my recovery is going really well, it is taking a long time to get back that last bit of fitness, so I’ve got to be sensible and give my body more time. However, getting Conor on our bike instead is a really, really great opportunity for the team and all our sponsors. Conor is a class act, and we’re bringing him Storm’s BSB bike from last season, which we know is a real weapon. I must also say a big thank you to BMW for their help and support with getting Conor into the black and gold of the Bathams AJN race team. It is a real highlight for us, and we’re all really revved up about it.”
Bathams Racing: From Brewery Sponsor to Established Race Team
The connection between the Bathams brewery and Michael Rutter dates back to 2009, when the company first sponsored Rutter’s TT campaign. From this partnership, a standalone racing team was established in 2018, which has since been active in international road racing and national championships. The TT has always been a fixed part of the calendar. Cummins is the team’s sole rider for TT 2026.
20 Years on the Mountain Course: Cummins’ Impressive TT Record
The move to Bathams AJN Racing comes in a symbolic year. In 2006, Cummins raced the TT for the first time, finished 17th in the Senior race, and won the Newcomer’s Trophy. Since then, he has developed into one of the most consistent and fastest riders on the Snaefell Mountain Course.
The statistics speak for themselves: twelve podium finishes in total, five of them in the Senior race alone with two second places and three third places. He collected further podiums in the Superbike class (including consecutive podium finishes in Superbike and Senior in 2018 and 2019), Superstock, Supersport, and Lightweight. Overall, Cummins is approaching the mark of 80 TT starts.
In 2009, he finished second in the Senior race behind Steve Plater and became the first Manx rider to achieve an average speed of over 130 mph on a lap (130.22 mph). His personal lap record dates from 2022, when he lapped at 133.116 mph, the sixth-fastest lap in Mountain Course history. That season also yielded his most recent two podium finishes: third in both the Superstock and the Senior.
Cummins is no stranger to the BMW platform. At TT 2025, he rode an M1000RR for the Burrows Engineering/RK Racing team in the Superstock class and finished fifth and sixth, with a best lap time of 131.528 mph.
Pre-Season Preparation: First Seat Time at Oliver’s Mount
In preparation for the 2026 TT season, Cummins recently competed at Oliver’s Mount, the coastal course in Scarborough. It was his first outing there since the Gold Cup in 2008. In Scarborough, he gathered seat time on his Supersport Suzuki and prepared for the upcoming road racing season.
Outlook: TT 2026 from May 25 to June 6
With the Bathams AJN Racing engagement for the premier classes, his own Conrod Motorsport project in Superstock, and the Suzuki entry in Supersport, Cummins has one of the most comprehensive programs of any competitor. Whether the combination of different machines and teams works out will become clear from May 25, when TT 2026 begins on the Isle of Man. The race weeks run until June 6. For Cummins, it is the chance to return to the top three after four years without a podium and perhaps secure the first TT victory of his long career, which has eluded him so far.
