Although just one round into the World Supersport season, Tom Booth-Amos currently sits as the joint championship leader. The lead atop the standings is shared with none other than two-time runner-up Stefano Manzi.
Despite the season opener typically allowing for flash-in-the-pan results, there is reason to believe that Tom Booth-Amos could be more than just a round-one wonder.
Booth-Amos went from strength to strength throughout the 2024 season, ultimately ending the season 10th in the championship, with a 3rd place in Cremona. That good form would carry on into the opening round of 2025, with Booth-Amos finishing 2nd in the opening race before clinching his first win in the class in the second.
Booth-Amos’ recent success sees a resurgence of British riders featuring at the front of the World Supersport class. Since the class’ inception, several British riders have fought for the world title. Both Ian Macpherson and Jamie Whitham narrowly missed out on world championship glory in the late 90s and early 00s before the likes of Johnny Rea, Eugene Laverty, and Cal Crutchlow would pick up where they left off in the latter part of the decade. Crutchlow would, of course, win the title in 2009 ahead of Laverty.
The early 2010s saw Chaz Davies and Sam Lowes win titles in 2011 and 2013, respectively. However, since Lowes’ title in 2013, Britain hasn’t had a rider go for the supersport crown. There has since been success in the form of Gino Rea, Kyle Smith, and Tarran Mackenzie all winning races. However, for one reason or another, they weren’t quite able to challenge for the world title. However, after Booth-Amos’ performance at the season opener, could this be the year to end the twelve-year drought of British champions?
One thing in Booth Amos’ favour is that the Triumph looks as good as it ever has in the class. Since the new generation rule changes were implemented within the supersport class in 2022, the Triumph has been going from strength to strength. The bike claimed its first win in the hands of Stefano Manzi in 2022 at Portimao – the first-ever win for Triumph. The Portuguese circuit is next on the World Supersport calendar, so there is solace in knowing the bike has prior success there, even if it didn’t all go to plan for the team last year.
Moreover, Booth-Amos will be heading into the second round on a wave of confidence he never had before. During his brief, though very impressive, tenure in British Supersport, once Booth-Amos started winning, he was almost impossible to stop – in a season that saw him narrowly miss out on the championship despite missing several rounds through joint duties that year.
If the previous form is anything to go by, coupled with this new front-running prowess, we could see a British rider fight for the world title for the first time since 2013.
