This weekend the Quattro British Supersport Championship returned to action at the fast and furious Thruxton circuit in Hampshire, where Oli Bayliss continued his podium streak aboard the Macadam Triumph Factory Racing Street Triple 765 RS.

Another new circuit in the British series to learn, the Australian took no time in getting to grips with the 2.35-mile track, which is known for its fast paced racing action, where after the first day he was third on combined times.

Heading into Saturday’s qualifying and with temperatures soaring on and off-track Bayliss qualified on the second row in fourth place, with just 0.703s separating the front four. The 12-lap Sprint Race was a frantic affair with some familiar faces alongside Bayliss, with Josh Whatley on the XMT Racing Triumph and Can Öncu standing in for Ben Currie, both rivals of the #68 in the Supersport World Championship.

Off the line and in true Thruxton style it was a dog-fight from the start, with Bayliss settling into sixth in the early stages. As the laps ticked off a battle with Dean Harrison emerged and the pair traded places until Bayliss made his move taking fourth place.

Slotting into third, Bayliss started to track down Öncu and Stapleford ahead, with the trio all wanting to land the top podium step. Drama in the closing laps saw positions frantically swapped and coming into the final chicane the front three were side by side with Bayliss taking third place at the chequered flag.

Having set the fastest lap in Saturday’s Sprint outing (1:16.995) Bayliss lined up his Street Triple 765 RS on pole position ready for the 18-lap Feature race. A well-executed launch off the line saw Bayliss take the holeshot, but close behind were Whatley and Harry Truelove who made their respective moves and demoted Bayliss back to third.

With the scene set early on, the remainder of the race saw places and paint traded with fast paced action throughout. On the eighth rotation Bayliss was back in the lead, but Öncu, Stapleford and Jack Kennedy were all on the hunt.

With the front four swapping places and utilising each other's slipstream, the quartet were four abreast at times, but on the 15th lap a crash further down the field brought out the Safety Car. As the Safety Car returned to the pit lane, it was Öncu, Stapleford and Bayliss in the podium fight, with Bayliss making a move for second and holding it to cross the line delivering a second podium finish for the weekend. The results from the seventh round see Bayliss third overall, 67 points behind the championship lead.

For teammate Max Wadsworth, it was another challenging weekend. Qualifying 16th and securing a PB for the Sprint race, his race was cut short after being taken out, unhurt, by another rider on the third lap. Lining up for Sunday’s Feature race, Wadsworth came home 19th, having recovered his position after dropping back to 22nd in the early stages.

XMT Triumph enjoyed a strong weekend with Whatley who was present in the top 10 throughout the weekend, qualifying in sixth, with teammate Jamie Davis just outside the top 10 in 11th, Whatley finished the Sprint race fourth and was fifth in the Feature race, where he set the fastest lap aboard his Street Triple machine.

The next round of the British SuperSport Championship, takes place over the Bank Holiday weekend (29-31 August) at Cadwell Park in Lincolnshire.

Oli Bayliss:

“Overall it’s been a good weekend, I didn’t really gel with Thruxton from the get go, but we made good progress over the weekend. I was happy with the third place in the Sprint race, I tried to manage the tyre throughout and felt like I did a pretty good job with it. As I came out of church on the last lap, I ended up on the left of Luke and couldn’t really squeeze over to the right so I could be on the inside of the chicane, but I had a go and tried to go round the outside. Today we just missed out on the win, I tried my best to get in a good position to make a pass, but maybe went into Church a bit hot and that cost me the race, so we finished second. A huge thanks to the Macadam Triumph Factory Racing team and to all my sponsors, we’ll have another go in two weeks time at Cadwell Park where we get to jump a road bike over the Mountain!”

Max Wadsworth:

“I don’t really know what to say about the weekend really, it’s been a tough one. I set a new PB in qualifying but it seemed to just go downhill from there. I was taken out in Race 1, which is the second race in a row it’s happened. It’s been a tough three rounds, but they say things come in three. Today’s race was damage limitation after not setting a good lap in the opening race, but it just didn’t go to plan at all. It’s now full focus to Cadwell in a few weeks time and hope our luck turns around.”

Race Results:

Sprint Race

Feature Race

Quattro Group British Supersport Championship (after seven rounds)