OMG Racing announced this week that they will make their road racing debut next year as the team heads to the Isle of Man TT races for the first time in 2020. With a proven track record in the British championship, the team have gone from strength to strength since forming in 2018.

Although new to the road racing scene, the Staffordshire-based outfit have an experienced rider line-up ready to tackle the Mountain Circuit with James Hillier and David Johnson contesting the RST Superbike, Senior TT and RL360 Superstock races aboard the BMW S1000RR, as well as the Supersport races on Yamaha R6 machinery.

Since his TT debut in 2008, Hillier has amassed 14 podiums and a win in 2013 in the Lightweight race. He joins OMG Racing following a successful 10-year stint with Bournemouth Kawasaki, which saw him bring home 44 top 10 finishes from 49, and 28 finishes inside the top five.

Joining Hillier at OMG is popular Aussie Johnson, who in 2010 was named fastest newcomer with a 128.838mph lap, before narrowly missing out on his first podium in 2014 where he finished fourth in the Superstock race. In 2018 he finished every race at the TT in fourth place, but it was in 2019 when riding for Honda Racing where ‘Davo’ claimed his maiden TT podium, finishing third in the RL360 Superstock race.


James Hillier:

“I’m really looking forward to a new chapter in my career for 2020 with OMG Racing and riding the new BMW S1000RR and Yamaha R6. Making the decision to leave Bournemouth Kawasaki, after a really great 10-year relationship, wasn’t one I took lightly. There are lots of challenges involved in moving teams and starting new relationships. I’ve had an affinity with Kawasaki for 14 years now and switching machines throws up its own challenges, but I’m really excited by it all. OMG Racing are putting together a strong package around me, I’ll be working with a Crew Chief I know, and very closely with the team to develop the bike. With any kind of motorsport, knowing when to make changes is pivotal to success. It’s definitely the right time for me to make this move and I can’t wait to get started!”

David Johnson:

“I’m extremely happy to sign for OMG Racing for the 2020 roads season. They are an amazing bunch of people who are dedicated to their racing and put their riders front and centre. The bikes will be top notch, they’re a no-holds barred team when it comes to assembling the best bits of machinery and I’m sure that they’ll be able to deliver a bike capable of winning. Currently I’m still back at home in Australia, but the stars seem to be aligning for next year, with my wedding to kick things off and then heading back over to the UK to get myself focused on the bike. 2019 was a great year for me, finally getting that first TT podium, so I’m certain I can follow that up with more in 2020. A Big thanks to all the team at OMG Racing, but especially Alan Gardner and Paul Curran for giving me this opportunity. I can’t wait to be back!”

Paul Curran, OMG Racing Team Principal:

“This is obviously a huge announcement as we prepare to take on our first ever roads season as a team. Road racing is something which has been on our radar for a while now but was a big investment in terms of time and resources, the team ownership agreed that it was something we couldn’t pass up on though – so it became a case of assembling a team capable of winning. Our focus and commitment to British Superbikes won’t be changing, so our supporters can expect us to give 100 percent to both the BSB and the roads across the season. We have some vastly experienced people coming on-board to help us develop behind the scenes. We’re not competing just for the fun of it, we’re racing to win and to shake up the road racing competitions as we have done on the circuits.”

Alan Gardner, OMG Racing:

“Since I was a boy I’ve been a fan of the Isle of Man TT, but never in my wildest dreams did I think I would get the opportunity to be a part of this historic and prestigious event. As a team, OMG Racing doesn’t do things by half measures, so securing the right riders was pivotal. We’ve worked with them to grow our team, based in Cannock, into attracting one of the very best road race crews in the country. It was also important that we ran the right bike, so the BMW S1000RR was the obvious choice. The support we’ve had from Paul Phillips has been fantastic, and I want to thank him for the help and guidance. There are so many great road racers, we want to give them another option, with bikes and teams built around their needs. A happy rider is a fast rider after all! We know that we’re a new roads outfit, but we’ve spent our entire time in British Superbikes proving people wrong, and we ended up winning our first race in just our second season. So, who’s to say what we can achieve in our debut roads season?”