JAMIE COWARD

Jamie Coward is no stranger to the paddock having spent many of his childhood years there whilst his father Paul also competed in the Isle of Man TT Races as well as the Manx Grand Prix and Classic TT.

Now an established racer himself, being surrounded by those closest to him continues to be important for family man Jamie, as he attributes much of his racing success to the continued support of his partner Sophie and his mother Sally who are always on hand.

Coward’s unusual career path has seen him racing both modern and classic machinery on short circuits and the roads. Straddling both disciplines has clearly paid off as he has rocketed up the TT leaderboard in recent years. Indeed, the skills he has developed on Ted Woof’s classic machines, especially the 500cc Manx Norton, where corner speed is key, have not only helped him record numerous podiums at the Classic TT but also become a major force in the TT’s Supersport and Lightweight classes.

With the aforementioned strong family values, Coward has remained loyal to Woof, quick to recognise the impact and importance he’s had on his career, and that has continued to help him at the TT. Although yet to land a ride with one of the factory teams, Coward has, instead, benefitted from working with several established privateer teams including Penz13.com, Prez Racing and KTS Racing, a highlight with the latter being the 2019 Lightweight race where he claimed his first podium, finishing just 1.2s behind Michael Dunlop.

KTS Racing, run by Kevin Watret, have given Coward everything he needed to finally showcase his talents, and the Yorkshire rider has been in the top ten in all the races he’s finished since 2022 with another podium coming in the opening Supertwin race of 2023.

Superb results have come across all the classes, breaking the 130mph barrier for the first time in 2022 when he became, at the time, the fastest Yamaha rider ever to have lapped the Mountain Course. Improving his speeds all the time, in all classes, Coward set a new personal best of 132.696mph in 2024 with a Supersport lap of 128.668mph made him the fifth fastest 600cc rider of all time, behind only Michael Dunlop, Peter Hickman, Dean Harrison and Davey Todd.

That’s seen him, and the team, rewarded in 2025 as the official factory triumph team on the roads whilst he’s also switched back to BMW for the 1000cc races after two years on Honda. Now one of the very best TT riders currently on the entry, Coward will again be firmly challenging for podium positions in 2025.

Although Coward remains yet to land a ride with one of the factory teams, he has instead benefitted from working with several well-established privateer teams including Penz13.com, Prez Racing and more recently KTS Racing - giving him his finest TT performances to date in 2022 and 2023.

Everything began to come together for the Yorkshire rider in 2019, where Coward’s talented performance not only secured him a top ten finish in every race, he also claimed his first ever TT podium - finishing second in the Lightweight Race. It was a defining race for Jamie, as the KTS Racing Kawasaki rider pushed Michael Dunlop as hard as anyone else ever has and he was unlucky to miss out on the win when he fell an agonising 1.2 seconds short.

There were more memorable moments for Jamie in 2019, as he also posted a brilliant fifth in the second Supersport race and eighth in the Senior TT, where he not only broke the 130mph barrier for the first time but also became, at the time, the fastest Yamaha rider ever to have lapped the Mountain Course. 

KTS Racing supported Coward in all classes in 2022 and although he was forced to retire from the Supertwin race, he finished inside the top eight in his other five races. Four of those finishes were inside the top six and it was a superb campaign for Coward, lapping in excess of 127mph in the Supersport class and setting a new personal best lap of 130.398mph on the 1000cc R1 Yamaha.

2023 was another outstanding TT for Jamie and the results kept coming, with a new fastest lap speed of 132.096mph and no less than six top-6 finishes, including a second podium in the Carole Nash Supertwin race, he also found himself taking home the 2023 Privateer Trophy.

Despite being overlooked for a factory ride once again in 2024, Coward remains fired up and if his track record is anything to go by, his continually improved performance will find him hunting down another podium this year.

VIEW FROM OUR RIDER LIAISON OFFICERS

Jamie’s a fantastic rider with a huge TT career ahead of him and whilst he goes under the radar a bit, his results of late have been nothing but superb and perhaps deserve more credit than what he’s received. He’s a really nice guy with a great team around him which has allowed him to beat many a factory rider and team with a bigger budget. He’s at the stage now where he deserves a factory ride.

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NOTHING BUT JAMIE COWARD AT THE TT