The third round of the British Supersport championship at Donington Park on May 17-19 was bolstered by further fast Triumphs on the podium across the two races. Ahead of their upcoming races at the same venue, the World Supersport PTR Triumph team took advantage of a wildcard appearance and saw their rider, Tom Booth-Amos, clinch a win and second place. Macadam Triumph Racing’s Luke Stapleford once again celebrated on the podium to keep his British championship fight in sight. 

The PTR Triumph team weren’t the only world championship visitors at the Leicestershire circuit as Turkey’s Can Öncü was deputising for an injured rider and immediately made an impression by setting the fastest time in qualifying. The battle for second place on the grid was between the Triumphs of 2024 race winner Stapleford and Booth-Amos. They both set identical times to put two Triumphs on the front row, but second place was awarded to the #8 machine for achieving the lap first.

The second PTR Triumph of Ondrej Vostatek saw the Czech rider qualify an impressive eighth in his first British Supersport event, while Max Wadsworth was able to qualify the sister Macadam Triumph in 21st. 

Sprint Race

Saturday’s 12-lap Sprint Race always guarantees excitement and an amazing start from Stapleford saw him lead briefly until Öncü forced his bike up the inside, while Booth-Amos chased them in third. At the end of the first lap, Luke made a strong move into the Melbourne Loop to grab the lead ahead of the two World Supersport riders. The British championship Triumph rider didn’t have a clear track ahead for long as Öncü returned with a pass at the same hairpin a lap later to regain the lead. 

Despite Öncü getting the hammer down to gap the chasing Triumphs with lap records, Stapleford was beginning to catch the Turkish rider. With a good buffer ahead of Booth-Amos and his British championship rivals, unfortunately disaster struck. The #8 crashed at speed as he tipped into McLean’s corner but fortunately was able to walk away unhurt. 

Now promoted into second, Booth-Amos set his sights on the race leader. Despite making inroads, the gap was insurmountable for the former British Motostar champion who took the flag in second and gained some valuable race laps at Donington on the PTR Triumph. His Teammate Vostatek crossed the line in a solid eighth and Wadsworth in 17th.

Feature Race

Keen to put the disappointment of Saturday behind him and get his championship fight back on track, Stapleford also knew he didn’t need to start brawling with the visiting World Championship riders in Sunday’s Feature Race around the swooping circuit. 

A first corner incident brought out the red flags and brought the riders back into pitlane. A restart was required and, with the lights out for the second time, it was Öncü looking to win a second race of the weekend as he took the lead, immediately pushing hard. Booth-Amos slotted his Triumph into third, chased by Stapleford who wasn’t quite able to capitalise on his front row start. 

As the race settled, Booth-Amos hunted down the reigning British Supersport champion, Benjamin Currie, and Öncü while Stapleford circulated just outside of the podium positions. As the laps clicked by, it was clear the #96 of Booth-Amos had more pace than the riders in front and he got into an epic battle with Currie at the halfway stage. 

Once into second and with 1.4 seconds off the leader, Booth-Amos was relentless in his pursuit for a win. Stapleford wanted to make it a podium from every round of 2024 and to be the first British Championship contender home. Both riders independently stalked their victims with Tom and Luke making their respective decisive moves at different corners on lap 13 and holding first and third all the way to the flag.

Further down the order, Vostatek recovered well from running on earlier in the race to go one better on his PTR Triumph to finish seventh while Max Wadsworth made huge progress on the second Macadam Triumph to finish 13th and grab some more valuable championship points. 

Luke Stapleford #8: “Another really strong weekend for us showing that we are consistently the fastest on track. We had some bad luck in the Sprint Race with the crash whilst aiming for the win, so we adjusted our targets a little for the Feature Race and managed to do what we set out to do and finish first amongst the regular British championship riders. It was really good to gauge ourselves amongst world championship riders and show that we have the speed to run with those, too. I'm looking forward now to Knockhill to claw some more points back in the championship.”

Max Wadsworth #72: “I’m feeling much more at home on the bike now after this weekend. I didn’t have a great result in the Sprint Race with 17th in class but had a much better Feature Race, bringing it back in the points with a 13th and new personal best lap. I’m looking forward to building on the progress I’ve made this weekend at Knockhill.”

Tom Booth-Amos #96: “Solid weekend and ended up with the win. It’s nice to pay the team back because they’ve worked really hard this weekend to try to find where we need to be. Now I feel like we have found a strong place to start off in Misano and of course to come back here for the World Championship. Thanks to Triumph, to the team, Simon and everybody.”

Ondrej Vostatek #51: “We made a few changes in the second race and I felt much better and more confident on the braking so I was able to overtake a lot of people. Then I started losing a little and I was pushed wide at one point so I lost a bit of contact with the guys so then I caught them back.  I think this testing was really good and I think in Misano we will be able to fight for the points and maybe a top ten.”

Race Results: Round 3 - Donington Park

Sprint Race Results

1st Can Öncü 

2nd Tom Booth-Amos (Triumph)

3rd Benjamin Currie

8th Ondrej Vostatek (Triumph)

17th Max Wadsworth (Triumph)

DNF Luke Stapleford (Triumph)

 

Feature Race Results

1st Tom Booth-Amos (Triumph)

2nd Can Öncü 

3rd Luke Stapleford (Triumph)

7th Ondrej Vostatek (Triumph)

13th Max Wadsworth (Triumph)

British Supersport Championship after 3 of 11 rounds

1st Benjamin Currie - 115

2nd Jack Kennedy - 112

3rd Luke Stapleford (Triumph) - 92

9th Tom Booth-Amos (Triumph) - 47

15th Ondrej Vostatek (Triumph) - 22

19th Max Wadsworth (Triumph) - 7

The 2024 British Supersport Championship returns to action at Knockhill on June 14-16 and the PTR Triumph riders return to the world stage in Misano the same weekend.