JOSH BROOKES LEADS DAO RACING ISLE OF MAN TT RETURN IN 2026
For the first time since 2023, former race-winning DAO Racing team led by Josh Brookes will contest the 2026 RST Superbike TT, both RL360 Superstock TT races, and the Milwaukee Senior TT, with the Australian riding a Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade across all 1000cc races.
The Cumbria-based team were regular TT contenders between 2014 and 2023, initially under the Silicone Engineering banner and latterly as DAO Racing, establishing themselves as one of the most consistent and competitive teams in the paddock.
Their most successful period came with Dean Harrison, who rode for the team on Kawasaki machinery between 2016 and 2023. Together, rider and team built one of the standout partnerships of that era on the Mountain Course, taking victory in the second Supersport TT race in 2018 before adding further success, winning the 2019 Senior TT.
Across the 28 TT races they contested together, Harrison and the team finished on the podium 21 times and only failed to finish just two races, underlining the consistency and reliability that became hallmarks of the programme.
DAO hopefully to continue the success from 2025
The team focused their efforts on the British Superbike Championship in 2024 before switching to Honda machinery for 2025, with Josh Brookes and Lee Jackson joining the team. The move proved productive, with Brookes securing the team’s first Bennetts British Superbike Championship podium at Donington Park before delivering their maiden win later in the season at Oulton Park.
That continuity now extends to the roads, with Brookes contesting the TT on the same manufacturer, which gives both rider and team a strong platform as they return to the Mountain Course.
Brookes, who hails from Australia, is one of the most experienced international riders in the field and has firmly established himself as a front-runner at the TT. A double podium finisher, he took an excellent second place in the 2024 Senior TT and remains one of the fastest riders ever to lap the Mountain Course.
His outright personal best around the Mountain Course remains 134.056mph, set during that runner-up finish in the 2024 Senior TT, a speed that leaves him fifth on the list of fastest riders of all time. With a year of Honda TT experience already banked and an established relationship with DAO Racing behind him, Brookes will be aiming to build speed across practice and race week and put himself in contention at the sharp end once again.
Josh Brookes is a double TT podium finisher and currently the fifth fastest rider of all time around the TT Course with a best lap of 134.056mph.
Josh Brookes said: “It gives me a lot of confidence ahead of the 2026 Isle of Man TT. Reflecting on 2025, I was racing with DAO Racing in BSB and then I rode for a separate outfit on the roads, which was a little bit disruptive to my preparations. I think staying with one team throughout the whole process is a far better environment to work in, the equipment will be to the highest standard, something in which DAO Racing prides itself on.I’ll have the confidence in the continuity of all the crew and team behind me. It’ll make for a more pleasant, competitive and enjoyable experience at these events.”
DAO Racing team manager Jonny Bagnall added: “It’ll be exciting to see how we get on, the roads were our pedigree, it’s how the team started back in 2014. With Sommai and Clarrisa, wanting the team to return to the roads and have a presence in the TT paddock, with them residing on the Isle of Man, it felt natural for us to do that. We want to have a fast and safe road racing season, Josh is very experienced around the Isle of Man TT, he rode the Fireblade in 2025 and I think it’ll be more consistent for him this year, because he’s comfortable with the crew and the bike he’s riding, especially with him riding it week in, week out at BSB. So, I feel that consistency and positive environment around him will help achieve some fantastic results.
DAO Racing’s return adds proven pedigree to the Isle of Man TT Races, bringing back a team with a record of winning, consistency and competitiveness on the Mountain Course. With Brookes aboard the Honda Fireblade for the big-bike races, he will be targeting a return to the podium in 2026.
