James Hillier spoke about the “shock” he felt when it was announced that the OMG race and subsequent WTF races had withdrawn from the race this year.
One-time TT winner Hillie was the first to ride Alan Gardner’s OMG team on the road in 2022 at the Yamaha R1. In 2024, when OMG became the official Yamaha UK entry to BSB, the OMG banner disappeared from road races, but was replaced by WTF races.
Under Gardner’s ownership, like OMG, WTF ran Honda Machinery last year, earning a top five finish in all four 1,000cc races for last year’s Man TT.
Hillie, who also rode the WTF name in this year’s Dakar Rally, was due to return to WTF with the Honda CBR1000RR-R again this year, but the recent announcement of the collapse of OMG and WTF effectively left the rideless just days before launching the 2025 testing program in Spain with the 2025 testing program.
“My phone was pretty crazy since the afternoon when the news was released (Tuesday),” Hillier said in a video posted to his Instagram account.
“It was honestly a huge shock. I really didn’t see it coming. Especially on April Fool’s Day, that’s not a great timing.
“I wish I was kidding, but unfortunately it’s not.
“We would also like to thank Alan Gardner for all the effort and time he put into the race. OMG and WTF – in fact, in fact (…) that’s difficult for everyone, so I would like to thank them for their efforts in the past.
“But I stand in a moment that I don’t really understand, it’s a work in progress to sort out some machines and get something.
“We don’t have much time. We were supposed to ride a new bike this weekend in Spain, so we were actually looking forward to it. It’s not happening now, so we have to do something and get something, but I’ll share what we can with you.
“Hopefully there’s some good news in the next few days, but I’ll have to wear a thought hat and raise some funds. That’s really the biggest thing. That’s the biggest thing. It’ll fund the business.