Brookes teams up with Carl Cox Motorsport and Uggly&Co Racing to take on road racing stars including Michael Dunlop, Peter Hickman and Dean Harrison
Carl Cox Motorsport will head to the 2026 North West 200 with an all-new squad run by Uggly&Co Clothing, fielding the proven Suzuki GSX-R750 and signing two-time British Superbike Champion and North West 200 podium finisher Josh Brookes for both Supersport races. Cox has long been a prolific supporter of motorsport and a familiar name in road racing through his Carl Cox Motorsport brand, backing multiple riders across two and three wheels over many years, including the most successful TT rider of all time, 33-time winner Michael Dunlop. For 2026, Cox is stepping up his involvement by supporting the newly formed Uggly&Co Racing team, led by motorcycle enthusiast and Uggly&Co founder Al Morris, with the family-owned lifestyle brand a constant presence across race paddocks and retail sites worldwide, from the NW200 and Isle of Man TT to all 11 British Superbike rounds as well as the Daytona 200.
“It’s really exciting to be supporting this new team with the guys at Uggly&Co, it’s the perfect racing collab! The North West is a really special event, we’re glued to it wherever in the world we are at the time, so it’s cool to be racing there, and with Josh Brookes piloting the proven Suzuki GSX-R750, we have every chance of some success!” Cox said.
Morris said the team’s creation was built directly from grassroots support and sales at events. “You’ll always see the Uggly&Co pop-up shops at motorcycle events up and down the country, where the team are always smiling, happy to be there, meeting fans and enjoying being part of the scene. Every purchase, every bit of support along the way has genuinely helped build this. A percentage of every sale goes straight back into racing, and that’s how we’ve been able to put this team together. It’s a sport I’ve been part of since I was young, so to now bring Uggly&Co into it not just as a clothing brand or sponsor, but as a racing team at the most iconic road races in the world — it’s a dream come true.”
Brookes, who has already shown front-running speed at the North West across multiple visits, is convinced the package can deliver. “Carl Cox is an absolute legend in terms of the support he gives to riders, and Uggly&Co are such a cool brand within the race paddock, what a pairing to have in your corner! I love the idea of this independent team. I’ve had a lot of success with that type of outfit previously, and I believe the Suzuki GSX-R750 has great attributes for the NW200. I can’t wait to get out there for first practice and wind on the power!”
Ireland’s annual North West 200 meeting will be the first indication of whether Michael Dunlop can continue his winning pace of last year’s TT. Considered a form guide for June’s Isle of Man TT, this open roads meeting sees all the TT stars in action on 6-9 May at the 15km high-speed course on the northern coast of Northern Ireland. Dunlop has announced he will continue racing a Ducati Panigale V2 with his MD Racing outfit, partnering with Scars Racing Ducati. He won a Supersport race at last year’s North West 200 on the V2, then claimed Ducati’s first victories at the TT in 30 years with a double.
The record 33-time TT winner is the island’s Supersport lap record holder, setting a 130.403mph benchmark in 2023 while becoming the first rider to break the 130mph bracket in this TT class. Dunlop lapped at over 130mph last year on the Ducati V2 and is unbeaten in the TT Supersport class since 2022. An amazing record. Dunlop, 37, is also switching from BMW to Ducati machinery for the Superbike class this year. Describing how he’s adapting to the Panigale V4 in testing at Oulton Park, Dunlop said, “You know, it’s just a complete different beast of an animal than what I’m used to, and I think anybody that hasn’t rode the Ducati is finding that. The bike’s good, we know that, that’s a fact. The bike has got stacks of potential, so I’m looking forward to getting used to it and hopefully the North West we can make it fit into place.” Dunlop was recently named Irish Motorcyclist of the Year for the third time and was awarded an MBE late last year.
Dunlop and Davey Todd were the standout performers at last year’s North West 200, with three wins each. However, Todd is still recovering from huge injuries sustained at Daytona in March – including a broken femur, tibia, foot and nose. His 8TEN Racing teammate Peter Hickman returns to the event a man on a mission, saying he wants a maiden Superbike win “sooner rather than later”. Hickman has won two Superstock races and two Supertwins events there, but has yet to win the feature class of the North West 200. He will continue with BMW machinery, plus a Triumph for the Supersport category.
Aussie Josh Brookes has also stated he wants a North West 200 win. A former lap recordholder at this event, Brookes is riding Hondas in the Superbike and Superstock races as well as the Uggly&Co Suzuki in the Supersport category. Last year, under the Jackson Racing team banner, he achieved four top-10 finishes.
After a strong 2025 roads campaign, which saw David Johnson and the Platinum Club Racing Kawasaki team finish fifth in the Superbike TT, the Aussie continues for the third year with the official Kawasaki UK entry. He will race the new Ninja ZX-10RR at the North West 200 to sort its new aero package for the TT. Kiwi Mitch Rees is hoping he has better luck than last year’s debut, where he crashed, breaking fingers and ribs. He went on to win the Best Solo Newcomers award at the TT. Clive Padgett’s Milenco by Padgetts team has taken Rees under their wing and he will contest the Superbike and Superstock classes at the North West 200, as well as the TT Supersport and Senior TT races on Honda machinery.
The official Honda Racing team pairs Dean Harrison, who finished runner-up five times in last year’s North West 200 races, with evergreen John McGuinness. Another veteran, Michael Rutter, is making what looks like a tentative return to roadracing after a huge crash at the TT last year. The 54-year-old told the BBC that physically and mentally it has taken him “a long time to get over” the after-effects of his crash at the 31st Milestone during a Supertwins race. “I broke my L2, smashed it into four pieces. I was very lucky I didn’t do more damage, and I broke the bottom of my leg, my foot, my wrist; it knocked me about, and knocked me mentally wise,” the 14-time North West 200 winner said. “I’d never had a big crash like that and it made me admire even more riders who have come back from big crashes and injuries like Ian Hutchinson, John McGuinness, Robert Dunlop and my dad.”
Meanwhile, the man with the most wins at the North West 200 says he’s aiming at 30 victories this year. Alastair Seeley has notched up 29, including a double in 2023. He will have to weather a huge challenge from Glenn Irwin, who recently announced a return to road racing on a Ducati V4R. Irwin holds the record for the most North West 200 Superbike wins, bagging 11 straight victories in the feature class between 2017 and 2024. “I’ve led 47 out of 59 Superbike laps at the North West 200 from my first win in 2017. That blows my mind probably more than 11 race wins,” he said.
In a new initiative, the North West 200 is a round of the recently-established European Series Road Racing Superbike Championship, a six-round title chase around road circuits in Europe. The meeting is an important part of Northern Island’s tourist economy, with last year’s event generating over $A40m of “economic benefit” and $A100m of “media exposure and destination marketing” according to government tourism officials.
