STRONG POINTS HAUL FOR TRIUMPH RIDERS IN WORLD SUPERSPORT
PTR Triumph’s Tom Booth-Amos was fresh from his best World Supersport result last time out at Donington where he finished seventh and fifth. He qualified 13th for race one and got a blistering start in the 19-lap race, claiming an impressive six places off the line. He ran off track into the gravel, rejoining down in 16th but fought back through the field to finish in eighth place.
Czech rider Ondrej Vostatek achieved his weekend aim of a points scoring finish in front of his home crowd after a fierce battle with Bayliss for P11. The pair traded places until lap 14 when Oncu saw his opportunity and took both riders in one manœuvre, demoting Vostatek to P13 at the line. In Sunday’s race he collected more Championship points in the second FIM Supersport World Championship race of the weekend. The home favourite delivered a strong 12th place finish to equal his best result to date with PTR Triumph.
Unfortunately, on Saturday night, Tom Booth-Amos was taken ill with acute gastroenteritis. After being examined and treated by the Medical Director, he was declared unfit to take part in Sunday’s race. He will be back fighting fit at the next round in Portugal, 9 -11 August.
Tom Booth-Amos, PTR Triumph Racing: “I had a great start to Saturday’s race and good first laps but then unfortunately went into the gravel, coming back in sixteenth. I dug deep and managed to fight back to eighth. Really happy with that result, all things considered. Sorry to everyone that I couldn’t race on Sunday but I’ll be back in Portimão.”
Ondrej Vostatek, PTR Triumph Racing: “Finally a good race for us. The start and the first corner were ok. I tried to manage the rear tyre for the end of the race and we were stronger on the brakes too. At the end of the race I struggled with grip so it was difficult to fight. Anyway, we know what to improve and I’m happy because we moved somewhere, all the team did a great job. The second race was tough, the temperature was much higher than yesterday. Start was good, right in front of me was a crash and I avoided it. I was fighting with Oncu and Corsi for the top ten and it was a great fight. I tried to overtake Oncu into corner one and I was wide. I rejoined in P12 fighting with Corsi. It was a great weekend for us, I’m happy we finally made a step forward. Well done team.
For WRP-RT Motorsport by SKM-Triumph it was the team’s home race. John McPhee and Lorenzo Baldassarri were determined to benefit from the information gathered and improvements made at Donington Park last weekend. The significantly different track conditions, with track temperatures of around 42 degrees, did not make it easy, however both riders were happy with the progress made over the weekend. Lorenzo Baldassarri scored points in both races, finishing in P15 in the first race and P13 after a great battle in the second race. John McPhee had a more difficult weekend as he got caught in a first corner collision in both races and had to recover many positions. He finished the two races in P20 and P18 respectively.
Lorenzo Baldassarri, WRP-RT Motorsport by SKM-Triumph: “Overall we are happy with the weekend. We got really lucky in the first race because one rider hit me really hard on the first lap and my airbag was open the whole race. I managed to stay on track and got one point. When we look at the rhythm from the second race, we were fast and competitive. We were lucky to avoid the collision on the first lap but lost many positions due to the accident. We came back and had a good pace. We improved, so I am happy. Thanks to the team.“
John McPhee, WRP-RT Motorsport by SKM-Triumph: “We found some interesting pace on Friday but both races were really tough. I got pushed into the gravel in turn one on the first lap of the first race and I also had a long lap penalty from Donington. On Sunday we tried some changes and improved by 0.4s in the warm-up. I got a great start off the line but had to avoid a rider crashing in front of me and lost many positions again. After exiting the second corner in P28, I recovered to finish P18. There is work to be done and everyone in the team is working really hard to find a solution so we can show our real potential. I am feeling positive moving into Portimão. Thanks to my crew for all their hard work this weekend."
