Louth based PHR Performance step up to world championship
PHR Performance Racing – by Peter Hickman Racing is to contest the inaugural World Sportbike championship this year with the factory backed team fielding two British riders Harrison Dessoy (20) and Fenton Seabright (23) in the new series on a pair of Triumph Daytona 660s.
Both riders contested the National Sportbike championship last year with Dessoy riding for the Louth-based PHR Performance Racing team and but for an accident in a practice crash which brought his season to an early end, could have gone on to claim the title.
Dessoy said: “I’m very excited to be taking part in the 2026 World Sportbike campaign, it’s a great opportunity for me. When I joined PHR it was a new challenge for me and a big step up into the British Championship and now, just after one year to be going into a World Championship, I’m stupidly excited and I think it will be a fantastic season. A huge thanks to Peter and the team at Triumph for believing in me and giving me the opportunity to race in the world scene”.
Joining him will be Fenton Seabright, who finished third in the National Sportbike standings last year. With three wins and three podiums to his name, Seabright will be a threat from the start, particularly as he already knows many of the circuits from a previous spell racing on the world stage.
Seabright added: “I’m really looking forward to 2026, a move back to the World Superbike Championship is what we’ve been working towards since moving back to the British Superbike paddock in the Sportbike class, so I’m really happy with that.
"I’m hoping that working with Peter and the PHR Performance team will allow me to fight at the front, win some races and have a shot of the World Sportbike crown.”
Hickman said he was excited for the challenge ahead
“I’m really excited about the opportunity for PHR Performance entering into a World Championship for the very first time, which was never really on the cards or a thought process I’d ever had," he added.
"But the opportunity has arisen, and I think we’re in the strongest position we could ever be in, having worked with the Triumph Daytona 660 for two years in the British Championship.
"We won with Richard Cooper in 2024 and won a few races this year with Harrison, and if it hadn’t been for his injury we could have won the championship, so I don’t think we could be in a stronger position. We don’t know the circuits, but Fenton does and Harrison knows about half of them, but he knows the bike inside out, as do we.
"I’m really looking forward to it and having Fenton onboard, it’s a super young team; everyone is under 23 years old – the mechanics, electronics and the riders, so it’s going to be an exciting time not only for PHR Performance but for all the boys and also Triumph.”
The inaugural round of the 2026 FIM Sportbike World Championship takes place at Portimao in Portugal on March 27/29.