Podium finish is not quite enough for Newport race ace Tom Booth-Amos
A podium finish on the final weekend of the World Supersport Championship was unfortunately not enough for Tom Booth-Amos to hold on to third overall.
The Newport race ace brought the curtain down on his 2025 season in thrilling fashion at Spain's Circuito de Jerez as he finished second in Sunday's decider.
But with Spanish rival Jaume Masia winning that race, it meant PTR Triumph rider Booth-Amos could only take fourth in the overall standings.
“I knew what I had to do today,” Booth-Amos reflected. “To finish third in the championship, I had to beat Jaume. I tried everything to catch him, but it just wasn’t enough. Overall, it was a good day and a strong way to finish the season.”
Heading into the weekend with a six-point advantage over Masia, Friday’s opening free practice session Booth-Amos steadily build his pace, completing 18 laps and setting a best time of 1:43.556 — just 1.314 seconds shy of pacesetter Lucas Mahias.
Superpole on Friday afternoon took place under perfect Andalusian skies, with the field separated by fine margins.
Booth-Amos was on the charge before a crash with 15 minutes remaining curtailed his progress. He ended the session 1.307 seconds off pole and qualified on the seventh row of the grid in 20th.
Saturday’s opening 17-lap race unfolded in scorching conditions and Booth-Amos made an excellent launch, immediately gaining two positions into turn one.
Showing composed aggression and strong race pace, he carved his way through the pack to cross the line in a superb seventh place.
Masia initially finished third but was later handed a one-place penalty for exceeding track limits on the final lap, trimming Booth-Amos’s championship lead to just two points ahead of Sunday’s decider.
Crucially, Booth-Amos’s pace earned him a place on the third row of the grid for the season finale, thanks to setting the seventh-fastest lap of race one.
Reflecting afterwards, he said: “A good race. Starting from 20th it was never going to be easy, but I put a strong race together and actually caught the leaders, so the pace was good.”
Sunday’s final race of the season delivered a spectacular showdown.
Starting sixth, Booth-Amos made a lightning getaway and despite running wide a couple of times early on, he demonstrated outstanding speed and race craft.
Locked in an intense battle with newly-crowned world champion Stefano Manzi, Booth-Amos held his nerve to beat the Italian to the line and claim a brilliant second place.
Despite the podium finish, Masia’s race win meant Booth-Amos narrowly missed out on third overall in the championship by just three points.
It was a spirited performance that underlined the PTR Triumph rider’s progress throughout the 2025 campaign, and he will bid to come back stringer next year.
