Of the 2026 newcomers, few came to the Manx Grand Prix with the experience of 43-year-old Belgian, Laurent Hoffmann.
The man from Waasmunster competed in both the Glover Law Supersport and Okell’s Senior races on top of a Yamaha YZF-R6.
Hoffmann took part in the TT back in 2014 but a crash meant that he was unable to race, 12 years later, he is back on the Mountain Course.
How have you found it being back here?
“For myself, it's an accomplishment in fact, because in 2014 I was here as a newcomer at the TT, but then I had an issue on the bike, mechanical failure, and I went off quite bad.
“I never thought I would be able to jump on a bike first.
“At the beginning, doctors said it wasn't possible anymore to go on a bike.
“I had so many issues on my legs and so on, but I fought back, and now many years later I decided, you know what, let's try it again, but start on a 600 and low profile.
“I didn't post anything online, so almost nobody knew I was coming here, so I could prepare myself to the fullest without any pressure.”
Who are you riding with this year?
“It was in fact Francesco Feraldo, who offered me the ride, and together with the Bell Bike Sport Team.
“It's an amazing team, they're super good.
“The bike is in mint condition, they take so much care for everything.
“I feel really warm and welcome in the team.”
What other races have you done?
“IRRC I used to do, of course, but last year they decided to cut off the Superbike class, so they only have a Sportbike and a Supersport bike.
“Which left us riders a bit in a corner, [we said] okay, what should we do?
“But quite fastly, I decided with a few others to start our own series.
“So we started now ESR, it's called the European Series Road Racing.
“And for now we have a Superbike class, which went quite good in fact.
“We started from scratch with not much knowledge.
“Okay, I have my knowledge of racing, but to organize things and so on, it was like new.
“But I have a wee team, we're only with 4, but we match like glue, you know, and it's just amazing to do this.”
What is next for you after this years Manx?
“That's still a question unanswered for now.
“I'm gonna first concentrate on the senior race now, and then we will just see what happens from there on.
“Of course, I'm mainly racing Superbikes, so it would be obvious to just step into the TT and go with my big bike here.
“But depending on the results, why not maybe try another year on the Manx and try to win it first on the 600 and then step up to the TT, so we'll see.”
How would you describe racing around the Mountain Course?
“It's impressive.
“As we said already before, I was here in 2014 and it's now 12 years later and it was again new.
“The first lap when I was out on my own, I'm like, Jesus, this is really impressive.
“I did a 111mph, I think and then I was already thinking, I will not be able to go faster anymore.
“I was not scared but overwhelmed by the speeds and the corners and when I came in, I was like, oh, I wanted to go again.
“It's amazing.”
You had a nice battle with fellow newcomer Kyle Casement in the Glover Law Supersport race, how was that race for you?
“Yeah, exactly, in the beginning when he overtook me, I was like, ah, Jesus, no, he will— or he— in fact, not the first moment when he came to me, I was like, okay, he's faster, he will just go and that's it.
“But like 2 corners later, I was still following him.
“A bit later, I was still on his tail, and I was like this will be tough because he was in front of me, so I didn't have a good sight.
“I always had to watch where to go, that was pretty annoying, so I was thinking, okay, I'll overtake him and try to pull away again.
“But then a bit later he came back again, and it was all the time front, back, front, back and after the pit stops, he was faster than me.
“He had a faster pit stop, and he was gone and I was then thinking, okay, that's a pity, he's in front of me, okay, but these things happen.
“But I have at least the road clear in front of me but at the mountain, I saw him in the very far distance again, and then I was thinking, ah, you never know, I might catch him again.
“When we came to the Nook, I was again on his tail, and then I thought, okay, I have the speed to catch like 15 seconds.
“If I have this speed, I can also overtake him and just continue and I just overtook him and never saw him anymore.”
What do you think of the Manx Grand Prix?
“Oh, it's amazing, I cannot thank the team enough for being here because I had first a contract with another team and really like one week before the closure of subscriptions, they decided to focus only on one rider.
“So they said we're not gonna continue and I'm like, oh hell, what now?
“So it was all very, very last minute and when I came here for the second newcomers weekend I was barely on my knees begging, please can somebody help me to get me a team because I have no clue what to do now.
“The whole team in the Manx, they said, no worries, we want to put you on the grid, we'll do whatever we can to help you.
“And they did because they contacted me with Francesco Faraldo, and then like in one or two days everything was settled and look, here I am, so amazing.”
Laurent ended the Manx Grand Prix with the fastest newcomers award as well as two eighth placed finishes in the Glover Law Supersport and Okell’s Senior Manx Grand Prix.
