By Sam West goes into the 2025 TT Races, ready to regain the deft touch, form that took him close to Privateers Championship glory in 2018.
The Wilmslow rider, confirmed to race the same equipment as in 2024, (S1000RR BMW, ZX6R Kawasaki, R7 Yamaha) has been actively putting in the hard yards in the off-season.
“I’ve put a huge effort into pre-season testing this year with 6 tests and my riding is better than ever, feeling really good on the bike and very fit too.”
Last month, the 22 times a top twenty TT finisher, was stateside, competing at the Daytona 200.
Eighteenth from the 57-lap race, West admitted that the US trip, had bitten significantly into his 2025 racing budget.
“I won’t be racing until the Northwest 200 due to budget constraints.
Going over to Daytona was way more expensive than planned & the race itself was a bit of a disaster due to team logistics/communication issues, so I finished down in 18th, but it was a great experience, and I’d love to go back and have another go!”
He continued:
“The racing costs are more insane every year, it’s almost impossible to do it now as a privateer and, definitely-not possible to have competitive bikes unless you’ve got some very strong sponsorship which 90 percent of the riders don’t.
Even keeping the race truck & van on the road is a small fortune, and I can understand why so many people have packed it in recently.”
Putting to one side funding struggles, West feels in a good place going into TT 2025, which is sub six weeks away.
“I am excited to get going this year, I’ve had a few tricky seasons while I’ve recovered from injuries and struggled with budget.
But finally, I feel I’m passed some of the problems and ready to show my form again.”
Words by Stevie Rial #dontletfearcontrolyou
