'Hit me with both barrels' - TT team boss on cancer treatment

Dwayne McCracken is making the most of his new lease of life as a road racing team owner at the 2025 Isle of Man TT, just two years after being given six months to live.

The Northern Ireland man received the news that he had Stage 3 inoperable pancreatic cancer in June 2023, but after extensive treatment defied the doctors' diagnosis and is now running the Lionheart Moto Racing team.

Belgian rider Julian Trummer has already ridden for the team at the Cookstown 100 and North West 200, before focusing on tackling the ultimate challenge of the TT Mountain Course.

"I went through a tough time with chemo and radiotherapy but thankfully I have come out the other side," McCracken told BBC Sport NI.

"I'm 18 or 20 months down the line and I feel really, really good.

"That's part of the motivation for this. I want people to see that you can come through a bit of a tough time and come out the other side."

The Bangor man said his family provided him with all the incentive he needed to recover.

"I was told my prognosis wasn't very good but in terms of treatment I just said 'hit me with both barrels, I don't care, I'll take the pain, because I have a young family, I can't be going anywhere'.

"The chemo regime that I was on was very strong and made me really sick but you have to have a focus and you have to have the end goal.

"There were times where I wasn't feeling the best and I wondered if it was worth it but I just had to look at my family and I'd have taken anything."

Dwayne's long-time passion for and involvement in motorcycle racing inspired him to set up his team and the name 'Lionheart' evolved from listening to a particular song on the radio on his visits to hospital for treatment.

"Lionheart is a song by Joel Corry and Tom Grennan and every time I went for chemotherapy the song kept coming on the radio.

"My wife said to me, 'that's you' and when you listen to it it's quite a powerful song, it's very inspirational. It just has a special meaning to me."

Conversations with Trummer last summer led to them exploring the options of putting together a race team and also supporting the NIPANC charity which supports those affected by pancreatic cancer.

"It gives me a focus and a purpose, it gives me something to do and it's a self medication because motorbikes are my passion.

"I also had the overwhelming urge to give back to the charity, to the people that helped me and my family.

"The charity aspect is very important to me because of the help I had with mindset and things through the whole journey."

McCracken has received significant support from sponsors and is hoping for some positive results at the TT with Trummer on board.

"Julian's a talented lad, he's a very nice lad, and we've put together a fantastic team of mechanics.

"I feel the top 10 for us is a realistic goal, we have really good bikes, Kawasaki have helped us, so we're in a good spot."

"I built the bikes myself from my house and it's a Northern Ireland team with a Northern Ireland sponsor so it's quite humbling the support I've had. I've had a lot of people coming on board wanting to help and support us, which is just fantastic."

Dwayne will draw on the experience of many years working with some of the biggest names in the sport, including 23-time TT winner John McGuinness.

"I've been really lucky to work with some of the best guys that there are.

"John McGuinness's record at the TT goes before him but I was with him at the start whenever he got his first Superbike win, his first Senior win, on one of my bikes, so for me that was a real special moment and a real special time in my life."

"I feel proud too to say I helped Paul Jordan on his journey and helped him get up there too."