PTR Triumph Racing secures pole position for Cremona Race Two

Tom Booth-Amos will start Sunday’s second race from pole position after setting the fastest lap in Saturday’s opening FIM Supersport World Championship race at Cremona, while Oli Bayliss was forced to retire following a crash on the opening lap of the shortened, re-started race.

Both PTR Triumph riders made a strong start to the original 20-lap race, with Booth-Amos moving from ninth to seventh and Bayliss making even greater progress from eleventh to eighth by the time the race was red-flagged on Lap 3 following an incident involving two other riders.

The race was subsequently restarted over 13 laps, but there was immediate disappointment for Bayliss. The Australian lost the rear of his machine at Turn 4 on the opening lap and was pitched into a heavy high-side. Thankfully, Bayliss was uninjured but forced to retire.

Despite getting a bad start, Booth-Amos made progress through the opening laps of the restart and was up to fifth by Lap 6. Continuing to demonstrate the pace of the PTR Triumph, the British rider set the fastest lap of the race on Lap 7 with a 1:31.822, as he battled to close the gap to the leading group.

Booth-Amos ultimately crossed the line in fifth, and his fastest lap means he will start Sunday’s race two from pole position.

With Booth-Amos starting tomorrow’s race from the front of the grid and Bayliss back in action following today’s incident, PTR Triumph are looking to convert that pace into a strong result in Race Two.

Tom Booth-Amos: “Not a bad race, I did a terrible start but managed to pick a few people off one by one. My pace was pretty good so I start pole tomorrow.  I need to make a few changes and hopefully be back on the podium tomorrow.”

Oli Bayliss: “Obviously not the day we wanted.  I felt good in both races, obviously not much information on the second start, but before the red flag I felt quite good, we could make passes. I felt like we just settled into a rhythm and then the red flag came out.  With those feelings I felt like we could have a good re-start so, from the get go I made sure to have a good first lap, I made a few passes into turn one, a few more into turn two and then going from three to four, I just kind of opened the gas and lost the rear and had a pretty good highside.  Not what we wanted but we can take the good feelings into tomorrow.”

PTR Triumph Racing Factory Team Manager Simon Buckmaster: “Again, not the race we wanted because both Oli and Tom have the pace to be on the podium. Before the red flag, Oli and Tom were together, both right there, then on the first lap of the second race Oli slid off.  That’s such a shame because the pace is there.  Tom didn’t get the best of starts, it’s difficult from P9 on the grid, but he fought through to fifth but then with a shortened race there wasn’t enough laps left to catch the leading four but he starts from pole tomorrow.  We have the pace to win, let’s see if we can.”

Booth-Amos back on the box at Cremona

Tom Booth-Amos secured his sixth podium of the 2026 FIM Supersport World Championship season with third place in Race Two at Cremona, adding another fastest lap to his tally, while Oli Bayliss fought back to P13 after starting from the fifth row of the grid.

Booth-Amos returned to the podium at Cremona today with a determined ride to third place in the second WorldSSP race, securing his sixth podium of the season and another fastest lap for the PTR Triumph Racing team.

Starting from pole position after setting the fastest lap in Saturday’s opening race, Booth-Amos lost the holeshot to Debise before Arenas moved to the front. The PTR Triumph rider quickly responded, taking second place on Lap 2 before moving into the lead on Lap 11.

Arenas reclaimed the advantage two laps later, before Alcoba joined the fight at the front as he chased a second victory of the weekend. The ensuing battle shuffled Booth-Amos back to third, where he ultimately secured the final podium position.

Managing some arm pump in the closing stages, Booth-Amos elected to consolidate third and bring home valuable championship points. He also set the fastest lap of the race, his sixth fastest lap of the season, underlining the pace of the PTR Triumph machine throughout the weekend.

For Bayliss, Race Two was always going to be a recovery ride after his highside in Saturday’s restarted race left him starting from P14. The Australian became caught up in the busy midfield during the early stages and lost ground, but found additional pace as the race progressed to fight his way back through the field and finish P13.

The Cremona weekend therefore concludes with another podium for PTR Triumph Racing, adding to a season that has now delivered six podium finishes for Booth-Amos, with the team continuing to demonstrate its ability to put the Triumph Street Triple 765 RS into contention at the front of the WorldSSP field.

Tom Booth-Amos: “A very good weekend, I felt good in the race especially in the early parts I was very strong. Actually a little bit disappointed to finish third but that’s racing, just struggled with arm pump at the end but overall a good weekend. Thanks to everybody, thanks to the team now we look forward to the last two races and see what I can do then.”

Oli Bayliss: “Obviously not really the weekend we wanted, the speed in race two from mid-race onwards was quite good but after the crash yesterday, getting knocked around a little bit in the first laps, kind of, I don’t want to say ended our race for us but it made it quite difficult and especially at a track like this where everyone’s so close it’s not easy to gain back the time that you have lost.  We have got a good direction to go for in Estoril and hopefully we can make it count.”

PTR Triumph Racing Factory Team Manager Simon Buckmaster: “After race two Tom fought for the win, he led the race and he got some arm pump. Turning into a couple of the corners is not a strength of our bike, you have push and work really hard with the bike and he got arm pump so he wasn’t able to win.  He did the right thing, brought home another podium in third place, we still have a chance to be third in the championship and to be second or third in the team’s championship.  Thanks to the team for doing a great job there.  For Oli, he had the crash yesterday, he was a bit stiff, got caught up in the mid-pack early in the race and by the time he got some clear track he was doing decent times but it’s too late.  He kept at it and fought his way back up to P13.  Great job by the team, the bike’s working really good, I’m so proud of the work everyone has done on the development of the bike and, it’s coming to the end and we have already started development on the new bike for Triumph.  So, two rounds to go, let’s see if we can challenge for the win and challenge for the podium with both riders.”