Top-six for TBA – Bayliss bags points in France

The first FIM Supersport World Championship race of the weekend at Magny-Cours, France brought a solid day for the PTR Triumph team in round nine of the season.

British rider Tom Booth-Amos lined up P9 on the grid and made a strong start, holding position before moving forward through the field. He crossed the line in sixth place, a result that lifts him back into third position in the championship standings with three rounds and tomorrow’s race two to go. Booth-Amos will start tomorrow’s race two from the fourth row of the grid in P12.

Tom Booth-Amos: “Overall a much more positive day, still struggling a little bit but we have definitely made progress we just need to examine it tonight and try to improve it for tomorrow and hopefully we can be further up the front fighting for the podium.”

Teammate Oli Bayliss had to start from the back of the grid after being unable to complete a qualifying lap yesterday due to being hit from behind by Kaito Toba. Despite the challenge, the Australian delivered a strong and determined ride, climbing through the field over 19-laps to score points in P12, a progression of 18 positions. Bayliss narrowly missed out on securing one of the nine fastest laps of the race which means he will line up at the back of the grid again for tomorrow’s race.

Oli Bayliss: “Bit of a struggle today, I tried hard from the back of the grid to do a lap time to be on the front three rows for tomorrow’s race but was a bit short. Not really what I was wanting but we’ll give our best again tomorrow.”

PTR Triumph Racing Factory Team Manager Simon Buckmaster: “Sixth place for Tom, obviously we would like to do better but he’s kind of struggled to get there so far this weekend. We are aware that it is very difficult for us to win the World Championship now but we do want to finish third as we’ve said. We beat Bendsneyder and Masia crashed so we are back in third and gained some points, so from that point of view it’s good. Of course we will look at some small improvements on the bike for warm up tomorrow and see if we can challenge for the podium. In the case of Oli he was very unlucky to be taken out on lap one in qualifying. There was so much damage to the bike that it couldn’t be repaired to get him out again but he rode a fantastic race from last on the grid to twelfth. We were monitoring the times during the race and he just missed the nine fastest laps by five hundreds of a second, so he has to start from the back again. We want results for Oli and Oli wants results but I think people will appreciate what a fantastic ride that was from the back of the grid.”

TBA takes Magny-Cours Podium – Bayliss Charges to Top Ten

Both PTR Triumph Racing Factory riders turned their weekends around in spectacular fashion during Race Two of the 2025 FIM Supersport World Championship at Magny-Cours, delivering determined rides that underlined the team’s fighting spirit.

Tom Booth-Amos started the 19-lap race from the fourth row of the grid in P12 but immediately launched himself into contention with a great start. A dramatic moment for Frenchman Lucas Mahias at Turn 5 on the opening lap allowed both Booth-Amos and teammate Oli Bayliss to seize positions, Booth-Amos moving up to sixth and Bayliss, charging from the very back of the grid, climbing to 23rd.

Locked in a fierce battle with Valentin Debise for P6, Booth-Amos showed his pace and determination to move into the top five by lap five. When Debise crashed out on lap nine, the British rider was elevated to fourth and set his sights firmly on the podium. He caught Jeremy Alcoba in third, and after a hard-fought duel, Booth-Amos came out on top to secure a brilliant third place podium finish.

Tom Booth-Amos: “Overall a much better day today to come away with a podium. I am very happy because I didn’t expect it to be honest, I struggled all weekend. Credit to the guys, they pulled it out of the bag. I had to work for it but I did what we had to do to maintain third in the Championship. Hopefully we can have a bit better weekend in Aragon.”

Meanwhile, Bayliss once again delivered a remarkable comeback ride. Starting last, the Australian carved his way through the field at an average of more than one place per lap, displaying impressive pace and determination. His relentless tenth place at the chequered flag represents a superb result that capped off another standout performance.

Oli Bayliss: “It was a frustrating kind of a weekend. We had a pretty good Free Practice, and as we all know, we got taken out of the first lap of qualifying so we had to start at the back of the grid. We were really close to making the lap time in race one to start one of the first nine in race two, we just missed out so we had to start at the back again. We made good progress throughout the race, finished tenth. We were really fast at the end of the race, it’s annoying because I think we could have had some really good results but we are just going to have to try again next time.”

PTR Triumph Racing Factory Team Manager Simon Buckmaster: “Obviously happy to be back on the podium. We struggled a little bit here yesterday but we worked hard to make some changes and today we are back on the box. That’s fantastic and a huge tribute to the whole team, obviously to Tom but to everybody. I also want to say that for Oli to come from the last row of the grid all the way to tenth was a fantastic ride and I’m sure people will realise what a great ride that was and give him the kudos he deserves for that performance. Both sides of the garage work so well together, Tom and Oli work so well together so a big thanks to everybody. We are in a confident position, we are in a solid third place in the championship with three rounds to go. If a race win comes our way, great but we are working towards our goal of finishing third in the World Championship. Looking forward to Aragon.”