Oli Bayliss Secures Maiden Supersport Podium at Phillip Island
The FIM Supersport World Championship kicked off in Phillip Island, Australia this weekend with PTR Triumph Factory Racing’s Oli Bayliss securing his debut podium finish in front of his home crowd. The Australian battled his way to a fine third place in Saturday’s opening race of the season aboard the Triumph Street Triple 765 RS at his home circuit in Phillip Island.
The Australian enjoyed a strong pre-event test at the start of the week, concluding the two days running in second on the timesheets and entered the season-opening round full of confidence.
A promising start in Friday’s Free Practice set Bayliss up for Superpole, where he put his #32 machine on the front row for the weekend’s opening race on Saturday, finishing second.
A difficult start from the front row left Bayliss with early work to do in the 18-lap race, concluding the opening lap in sixth. However the 22-year-old quickly found his rhythm, picking off his rivals one by one before passing Can Öncü for the final place on the podium, but a scary moment out of Siberia moments later relegated him back to fifth.
Re-grouping quickly, Bayliss used the power of the Street Triple 765 RS to slipstream his way ahead of his two rivals, slotting back into third on Lap 13. From there, he never looked back, withstanding ever-mounting pressure from behind, he crossed the line third to secure his first-ever Supersport podium at his home circuit.
Teammate Tom Booth-Amos made a strong start from fifth. Bouncing back from a Superpole crash, the British rider muscled his way into the podium positions, rocketing himself up to second by Lap 3 before a small mistake at the Southern Loop saw the #69 tumble out of contention.
With the Race 2 grid set on the fastest laps of Race 1, Booth-Amos’ strong start saw him set a lap time good enough for the front row for Sunday’s second encounter, with Bayliss lining up sixth.
Conditions for Sunday’s second race were polar opposite to Saturday’s season opener, with earlier rain leaving the track damp but rapidly drying in the Australian heat despite ongoing threats of rain.
With both PTR Triumph Factory Racing riders opting for wet tyres with intermittent rain fall, the second race got underway with Bayliss firing himself up to fifth on the opening lap. However, as riders on slicks got the temperature in their tyres, the order quickly changed as riders settled into a challenging 18-lap race.
Braving the changing conditions, Bayliss pushed on before eventually pitting for dry tyres on the sixth lap. Emerging from the pits just ahead of his teammate in 16th, who had pitted a lap prior, the home-hero immediately set his sights on a points finish.
Lapping faster than anyone, he quickly cleared the riders ahead and worked his way up to 12th, where he ultimately took the checkered flag.
Keen to make amends after his Race 1 crash, Tom Booth-Amos made a strong start and concluded the opening lap in eighth. But as conditions kept changing, the British rider struggled to settle into his rhythm and dived into the pits on Lap 6. Returning to the track, he pushed to the very end, picking up a Championship point at the checkered flag with a 15th-place finish.
Compos Racing Team's Ondrej Voasatek made it two Street Triple 765 RS' inside the top ten, with a strong seventh place finish in Race 1.
The PTR Triumph Factory Racing team returns to Europe with Oli Bayliss lying seventh in the overall standings as teammate Tom Booth-Amos heads to Portimão in 19th. The PTR team sit seventh in the team standings with Triumph third in the manufacturers standings.
The FIM Supersport World Championship returns to Portugal with round two of the season taking place from 27-29 March.
Oli Bayliss:
“It wasn’t the way I wanted to end the weekend, with the difficult conditions we just didn’t make the right call on the tyres. We started on wets but the leading group took the risk on dries which worked for them and we had to pit for a dry tyre. We had the pace to win the race but we were too late with the decision. There was a lot more on the table for us to get, but I’m feeling good and we just need to see how we go in Portimão.”
Tom Booth-Amos
“It wasn’t quite the weekend we wanted after being strong in the test and fast throughout the weekend, but it’s one of those things that can happen. We’ll move onto Portugal and get back fighting at the front.”
Simon Buckmaster - PTR Triumph Factory Racing Team Manager
“Today didn’t work out as we wanted. It was a lottery with the tyres and we started with wets, as did the majority and they all had to pit. Oli managed to get the fastest lap which backed up his Race 1 performance and ended the race fighting the three riders he shared the podium with. On Tom's side, he didn’t have the feeling but he stayed with it and got a point at the end. He was fast all weekend but two crashes just knocked his momentum. Overall, it was great to see Oli on the podium and we’re all looking to carry that momentum through to Portugal and the European season.”
Race 1 Results
1. Jaume Masia, Orelac Racing Verdnatura
2. Phillip Oettl, Feel Racing WorldSSP Team
3. Oli Bayliss, PTR Triumph Factory Racing
4. Albert Arenas, AS BLU CRU Racing Team
DNF. Tom Booth-Amos, PTR Triumph Factory Racing
Race 2 Results
1. Albert Arenas, AS BLU CRU Racing Team
2. Aldi Satya Mahendra, AS BLU CRU Racing Team
3. Matteo Ferrari, WRP Racing
12. Oli Bayliss, PTR Triumph Factory Racing
15. Tom Booth-Amos, PTR Triumph Racing
Championship Standings
1. Albert Arenas, AS BLU CRU Racing Team, 38 points
2. Jaume Masia, Orelac Racing Verdnatura, 31 points
3. Matteo Ferrari, WRP Racing, 26 points
7. Oli Bayliss, PTR Triumph Factory Racing, 20 points
19. Tom Booth-Amos, PTR Tiumph Factory Racing, 1 point
