Vostatek strong in eleventh as Tom Booth-Amos fights into the points

Following his best World Supersport qualifying result yesterday in Tissot Superpole, PTR Triumph’s Ondrej Vostatek lined up P8 on the third row of the grid for today’s FIM World Supersport Championship Race One in Estoril.

Vostatek was fighting strongly inside the top ten from the lights to the very last lap when he was passed by Sofuoglu and bumped out of the top ten at the line to finish eleventh.

Ondrej Vostatek: “So race one was quite good I felt strong on the bike but the problem was to stop the bike into the corners and I made a couple of mistakes that took me to P10. We need to make a couple of changes on the bike for tomorrow to get me quicker from the corner and we need to find a way to help me fight with other bikes. I feel very strong even if everything works as it is, I want to fight for top five.”

Conversely, teammate Tom Booth-Amos had a disastrous qualifying session, not posting a fast lap in the changeable weather conditions before the rain came down, putting him back in P23.

Coupled with a long lap penalty for race one imposed for ‘crashing under a yellow flag’ the Brit had a lot of ground to make up in the 18-lap race.  Despite this and struggling with a virus, he fought back and managed to finish in the points in P15.

Tom Booth-Amos: “Not the most enjoyable of races but I’m not feeling one hundred percent.  I just tried to survive and do what I could but obviously I’m struggling quite a lot. Hopefully I’ll feel better tomorrow.”

PTR Triumph Team Manager Simon Buckmaster: “Another good race for Ondrej he was fighting well inside the top ten and just got passed on the last lap and finished eleventh, but that’s a strong result for him and a really good showing. He suffered from arm pump at the end, we will look into things to see if we can improve tomorrow and get him back into the top ten.  On Tom’s side it started badly and it continued that way.  After a second crash in Free Practice, he crashed under a yellow flag so had a long lap penalty for race one.  So he started 23rd and had a long lap penalty, he’s also been feeling unwell all weekend with a really bad cold and he hasn’t got his normal strength but he fought and got one point.  Again we will look into everything on that side and do better tomorrow.”

More points for Vostatek in Race 2, as Tom Booth-Amos crashes out on lap one

Another strong points scoring performance in twelfth from PTR Triumph’s Ondrej Vostatek in today’s FIM Supersport World Championship race two at Estoril in Portugal.

Save for a few sprinkles of rain on the grid, the conditions were finally dry at Estoril and Vostatek felt strong going into the second race of the weekend.  The Czech rider got a good start when the lights went out and fought hard to get past Baldassari, there was even contact at one point but he settled into a good rhythm in P13 until the last lap when he passed Ruiz at the line to take twelfth and more points.

Ondrej Vostatek: “The start was ok but I was stuck between two bikes and there was nowhere to go.  I touched Balda in corkscrew and after a few laps I got in front of him. I was with Corsi and Ruiz but I was not able to find a gap on them so I was just waiting behind them.  Into corkscrew I made a mistake and we went side by side to corner 11, I was on the inside line so I held it but on the exit I got highside and Ruiz was in front of me again. I knew his weak spot was the exit of the last corner, I did great slipstream and I got in front of him, right on the finish line.”

It really was a weekend to forget for teammate Tom Booth-Amos and race two was not to provide any consolation for the luckless British rider. Struggling all weekend with a virus, a sighting lap crash set the tone for what was to come. Booth-Amos got a great start from the seventh row of the grid but was quickly involved in an incident at turn four and crashed out of the 18-lap race on the first lap.

Tom Booth-Amos: “Not our strongest weekend, I’ve been sick and I struggled to concentrate.  Looking back, I probably shouldn’t have ridden but I thought it was not fair to the team to come all this way and not ride.  I’ll go home and rest and then we will be back next week.”

PTR Triumph Team Manager Simon Buckmaster: “Another good points finish for Ondrej but there was potential for better.  He was on the limit in fifth down the start and finish straight, he should have changed to sixth and he could have overtaken more people. He had the pace to be better but nevertheless, another strong finish.  With Tom we can only say it was a disaster of a weekend. A wet first practice, crashed twice then he was very unwell and struggled to focus and concentrate.  We just wanted to get what points we could in race two but then he had the coming together on lap one which did involve Ondrej, Baldassari and Bayliss and Tom and Bayliss went down so that was another crash.  He’s ok, the boys will continue to work as a team and do the great job they do. These things happen in racing and I’m sure Tom will be better in a week’s time, we just have to put this behind us and go and do a good job at the last round in Jerez.”