A tough opener for Shropshire racer Booth-Amos
From fighting for the podium to battling rain, crashes and changing conditions, Shropshire’s Tom Booth-Amos endured a dramatic opening weekend the World Supersport Championship.
The championship roared back into life at the legendary Phillip Island Grand Prix circuit in Australia – a venue famous for high speeds, wild weather and unforgiving racing.
Riding for PTR Triumph Factory Racing, Booth-Amos, from Newport, lined up against some of the fastest supersport racers in the world aboard a Triumph Street Triple RS 765 machine.
Friday’s opening practice session took place in near-perfect conditions, allowing Booth-Amos to quickly show his pace.
Completing 19 laps, he set a best time just four-tenths of a second away from session leader Jaume Masia, immediately placing himself among the frontrunners.
The intensity ramped up during the afternoon Superpole qualifying session, where grid positions were decided.
Booth-Amos surged into second place midway through the session before disaster struck.
A violent high-side crash at turn 11 brought out the red flags and sent the British rider to the medical centre for precautionary checks.
Despite the incident, his earlier lap was quick enough to secure fifth place on the starting grid.
When the lights went out for the opening race, Booth-Amos wasted no time.
A sharp start saw him immediately fighting at the front, carving his way from fifth to third within two laps after bold overtakes around the sweeping Phillip Island corners.
Moments later, he powered into second place and began chasing down the race leader, setting one of the fastest laps on track.
But motorsport can be brutally unforgiving and, on lap four while pushing hard at turn four, Booth-Amos lost control and crashed out of contention.
Sunday’s second race brought another twist with heavy rain sweeping across the circuit just before the start.
Teams faced a gamble on tyre choice, and Booth-Amos committed to full wet tyres as the race began in treacherous conditions. However, Phillip Island’s famously unpredictable weather turned again.
As the track rapidly dried, grip disappeared and Booth-Amos slipped down the order before diving into the pits to switch to slick tyres.
The change transformed his pace. Charging through the closing laps, he fought back to finish 15th, securing a valuable championship point despite a bruising weekend that included two heavy crashes.
Reflecting afterwards, Booth-Amos said: “Obviously not the weekend we hoped for. I’ve been strong all week, but sometimes racing goes this way – we move on to Portugal.”
The Newport racer now turns his attention to round two at Portugal’s Autódromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimão from March 27-29 – another fast, rollercoaster circuit where fortunes can change in an instant.
