KERSHAW TO MAKE TT DEBUT
Double British Sidecar Champion and multiple World Championship race winner Steve Kershaw will make his debut at this year’s Isle of Man TT Races.
The Scottish driver will be joined by Rhys Gibbons and follows in the footsteps of World Championship rivals Todd Ellis/Emmanuelle Clement in contesting the two three-lap 3wheeling.Media Sidecar races on their Kershaw Racing LCR Honda, supported by Express Tyres (Lockerbie) and Quattro Group.
Gibbons made his TT debut last year with uncle Alan Founds and claimed superb finishes of third and fourth and a best lap of almost 116mph.
Kershaw, 38 first tackled the British Championship in 2014 finishing sixth overall with then passenger Rob Wilson and the duo improved to fourth the following year after taking seven podiums. However, a serious crash at the end of the season Knockhill meeting left them both seriously injured.
Kershaw battled back and after a lengthy spell on the sidelines joined forces with Stuart Clark in 2017 when they competed in the British Championship for the first time together. Success was immediate when they took no less than 15 podiums to finish second overall behind Tim and Tristan Reeves.
The following year saw them claim their first title in dominant fashion with 17 wins from the 23-race season. The penultimate round at Assen was the only time they failed to finish on the podium and although they missed out on a second title in 2019, it was a close-run affair with nine wins and 17 podiums in total resulting in another second-place finish, just 30 points behind Ellis and Charlie Richardson.
Clark decided to hang up his leathers at the end of the season and was replaced for 2020 by Ryan Charlwood, but a second British title came the way of Kershaw as they took five wins to turn the tables on Ellis/Richardson by 45 points.
Kershaw and Charlwood then turned their attentions to the 2021 World Championship finishing a fine fourth overall with their first GP victory coming at the British round at Donington Park. In all, five podiums were taken across the 15-race season.
Continuing in 2022, the duo improved to third overall with three wins chalked up at Rijeka, Donington and Estoril and eight podiums in total. It was similar outcome in 2023, a further two victories at the Red Bull Ring and Oschersleben seeing them finish third overall once more, this time behind Ellis and Ben Birchall.
Having achieved so much on the short circuits, Kershaw has now switched his attention to the roads, with all his efforts in 2025 and 2026 focused on the TT and F2 outfit.
Steve Kershaw: “I first thought about contesting the TT about ten years ago but after my big crash at Knockhill, my outlook changed, and the short circuits got all my attention in terms of what I wanted to achieve.
“From the British Championship to the Word Championship, it was all a natural progression, and I’ve achieved everything I want to in the F1 class. The TT is the final part of what I want to compete in and where I want to achieve things and the time’s right now to give it my all.
“Everybody’s been so helpful and there’s great support from everyone connected to the event, which as a competitor, is a huge plus.”
“The TT is getting my full focus now and we’ve had several outings in the FSRA British Championship, with good results, so I’m very pleased with the partnership with Rhys. He’s got great drive and enthusiasm and obviously learnt a lot with Alan last year, so we’ve gelled straightaway.
“It’s all with the view of arriving on the island with the LCR fully set up to my liking. Getting to the TT with the outfit doing what I want it to do means there’ll be one less thing to think about and I can focus on learning the course on closed roads.”
“I was over at last year’s TT for a few days and spoke to Todd a lot which has helped in my preparation, and I’ve been back a few times since so I feel my course knowledge is coming along well although going through Ballagarey at 150mph as opposed to 30mph will obviously be a bit different.
“We, as newcomers, are so lucky to have Dave Molyneux tutoring us and he’s been so thorough in explaining everything and I’ve been taking it all in like a sponge. It’s all about building up gradually, getting the laps in and having an enjoyable, solid TT this year before coming back in 2026.”
