Franco Bourne 2026 Tt Debut Set in Superstock and Sportbike
Franco Bourne will make his franco bourne 2026 tt debut in the Superstock and Sportbike classes after progressing through the 2025 Pilot Lap initiative. The 22-year-old enters the Isle of Man TT with nearly a decade of British Championship-level racing behind him and his first competitive Mountain Course laps now set for 2026.
Bourne and the Mountain Course
The Pilot Lap initiative gave Bourne and other newcomers closed-road, controlled laps of the Mountain Course without racing traffic around them. He completed that step under the guidance of Rider Liaison Officers including Richard 'Milky' Quayle, a route designed to teach the course before a rider takes on the real thing.
Bourne said: "The Pilot Lap in 2025 was really good in helping me understand more about what the TT demands." That preparation now leads directly into a debut that will place him on the same roads that define the TT calendar, but in competition for the first time.
Team ILR Support for 2026
In Superstock, Bourne will ride the RL360 Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade previously ridden by Nathan Harrison. In Sportbike, he will race a Paton S1-R under the Team ILR with Frog Vehicle Developments banner.
Ian Lougher, Team ILR team principal and a 10-time TT winner, said: "We’re delighted to be supporting Franco’s move into pure road racing. He’s a rider with real potential and the right attitude, and our aim is to give him the guidance and environment to develop further. The experience he’s gained so far and the steps he’s taking to learn the Mountain Course align with how we nurture and encourage upcoming talent. We’re looking forward to a busy and rewarding 2026 together."
From British Talent Cup to TT
Bourne started racing in 2011 and moved to the British Talent Cup in 2018, finishing 15th overall in his first year before climbing to third overall the following season. He won the 2020 British Talent Cup title with four victories in the 10-race season, then finished 10th overall in his first year on four-strokes in the Pirelli National Junior Superstock Championship.
His rise continued in 2022, when he finished second overall to Max Cook with four wins and nine podiums. In 2023, he won the opening round of the 1000cc Superstock category at Silverstone Circuit, added two more podiums, and later switched mid-season to the official Honda Racing British Superbike Championship team as a replacement for the injured Andrew Irwin.
Bourne scored points in seven British Superbike Championship races that year, with sixth at Donington Park his best result. He raced with Rapid Honda in 2024 before moving from short circuits to road racing later that year with outings at Oliver’s Mount and the Irish National road races.
That path now ends with a first TT entry in Superstock and Sportbike, and the Mountain Course laps he will make in 2026 will tell whether the step from British Championship racing to the Isle of Man roads can hold up under race conditions.
