A new name stepped onto the FIM Supersport World Championship podium at the Cremona Circuit as Tom Booth-Amos (PTR Triumph) claimed third place in Race 2. The Brit lined up from eighth place on the grid but was soon running inside the top four, before taking advantage of a crash ahead of him to move into third. It ended a wait of almost three years for Booth-Amos, whose last World Championship podium was at Portimao in 2021 when he raced in WorldSSP300.
There has been a huge change in form for the #69 since the French Round. Up to and including the Portuguese Round, ‘TBA’ had scored five top-ten finishes in 13 races (he missed Most Race 2 through injury). Since then, he’s scored four consecutive top-tens: P9 and P4 in France and P5 and P3 at Cremona. His third place in Race 2 meant he became the first British rider to take a podium on a British bike since Chaz Davies in 2010, also with Triumph.
Discussing his podium, a relieved Booth-Amos said: “It’s a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. We’ve worked so hard all year to finally find something where I feel comfortable with the bike. In these last two races, we’ve shown that I’m getting stronger and stronger. Finally, I’ve got a podium! I’m over the moon. In the beginning of the race, I always struggle a little bit with the new tyres, so I have to wait for the race to come back to me. I started to feel that after about 8 laps, I could go. At this point, I could see the leaders maybe 1.5 or 2 seconds in front. I thought ‘Okay, sit in this position and it’s another solid fourth place’. Unfortunately, I saw Yari crash. I thought, ‘Now it’s a podium!’. Unfortunate for him but a big gain for me.”
The Brit then went on to explain where the step in performance and results has come from, revealing the hard work that’s gone on behind the scenes to get him comfortable with the Triumph Street Triple RS 765 machine. He stated: “We’ve been working really hard all year, including the guys in the Triumph factory. We’ve been working super hard to make me comfortable with the bike. We finally changed something at Magny-Cours and that was the big step and the change in the season we needed. Before France, we were nowhere near where we should’ve been. They made this and now I can ride exactly how I want. We’re just missing this little bit at the start of races to help me fight for the win.”
PTR Triumph Team Manager Simon Buckmaster added: “After day one we were really pleased with the improvements and steps we made to be more competitive but what can I say about today! I am so happy for everyone in the team, a great job by Tom but I think it is important that we all understand that both sides of the garage contributed so much to this week. We had a rough start to the year but we have kept the faith, kept building and working together as a team unit. Great result today, there are three rounds to go, and we are going to keep working this way.”
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Source: WorldSBK.com