Manxman Conor Cummins has joined Bathams AJN Racing for the 2026 Isle of Man TT, with seven-time winner Michael Rutter overseeing the team.
Bathams Racing will continue to have a major presence at the Isle of Man TT Races, having agreed a deal with Conor Cummins ahead of this year’s event, as the Manxman prepares to mark twenty years of competition on the Mountain Course.
The Ramsey man will campaign the latest specification BMW M1000RR with the Bathams AJN Racing team in the RST Superbike TT and the Milwaukee Senior TT. The highly respected team continues to be run by seven-time TT winner Michael Rutter, whose extensive experience around the TT Course provides a strong platform for Cummins’ latest bid for success.
Cummins has previously announced his plans for the two RL360 Superstock races, running his own BMW under the Conrod Motorsport banner. In the Monster Energy Supersport category, another new deal will see him ride a Suzuki GSX-R750 for North Lincs Components in both races, the machine previously campaigned by James Hind, who secured fifth and sixth place finishes in 2024 and 2025 respectively.
Although it means Cummins’ TT campaign will have a whole new look to it compared to previous seasons, the 39-year-old already has experience of the BMW machinery. At last year’s TT he rode the Burrows Engineering/RK Racing BMW M1000RR to fifth and sixth place finishes in the two RL360 Superstock TT races, recording a best lap of 131.528mph around the Mountain Course.
2026 will see Cummins refreshed and revitalised for his latest campaign, he remains one of the fastest competitors ever to lap the Mountain Course and will be targeting a return to the podium for the first time since 2022, when he claimed third place finishes in both the Superstock and Senior TT races. In the Superstock race that year he also set his fastest ever lap at 133.116mph, making him the sixth fastest rider of all-time.
Cummins made his TT debut in 2006, finishing 17th in the Senior TT to claim the Newcomer’s Trophy. Since then he has established himself as one of the Isle of Man’s most accomplished TT competitors, he has claimed 12 podiums, including five in the prestigious Senior TT where he has recorded two second-place and three third-place finishes.
Further success has come in the Superbike class, including consecutive podium finishes in both the Superbike TT and Senior TT races in 2018 and 2019. He has also secured two podiums in the Superstock category and demonstrated his versatility with further top-three finishes in the Supersport and Lightweight classes.
Conor Cummins said: “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!”
The partnership between the Bathams brewery and Michael Rutter began in 2009 when the company first sponsored Rutter’s TT campaign, a relationship that has continued to grow ever since. Michael Rutter went on to establish Bathams Racing as a team in 2018, with the squad competing in both international road racing and national championships while maintaining a strong presence at the Isle of Man TT.
Rutter himself remains one of the most accomplished competitors around the Mountain Course, a seven-time race winner whose career at the event stretches back to his debut in 1994. His experience and long-standing association with the event make him ideally placed to guide the team’s TT programme.
Michael Rutter added: “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.
Getting Conor on our bike instead is a 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”.
Cummins heads into TT 2026 aiming to convert two decades of Mountain Course knowledge into a return to the podium for the first time in four years and potentially that long-awaited first TT victory that has so far eluded him.
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©Words/Images above are from an official press release posted courtesy Isle of Man TT Races
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What are the Isle of Man TT Races
There are very few sporting events in the world with the tradition, heritage, and prestige of the Isle of Man TT Races. Despite being the world’s oldest continuous motorsports event, the TT remains, however, as fascinating and relevant today – continuously inspiring new generations of riders to come and race the Mountain Course.
Largely unchanged since 1911, the 37.73 miles of public roads simply capture the imagination like no other motorcycling venue can. The TT Course, whilst difficult to learn, is even harder to master – requiring immense levels of skill and concentration as speeds nudge an incredible 200mph.
2026 TT Schedule is available at – https://www.iomttraces.com/racing/page/schedule/
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TT+ is the official digital home of the Isle of Man TT Races – offering free, year-round access to the world’s greatest road racing event. Fans can enjoy an ever-growing library of exclusive original content, interviews, as well as over 30 years of archive race highlights.
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