HE BEST
TOM BOOTH AMOS PTR Triumph Factory Racing
No stranger to the BSB paddock, the MotoGP paddock, and now- since 2020, the WorldSBK paddock.
Now a proven race winner in WorldSSP and a BSS,‘ TBA’ is a top WorldSSP contender fighting occasional bad luck as much as the many rivals he faces in the Next Generation WorldSSP rolling melee.
A British rider, in a British team, on a British bike, at the UK round of the WorldSSP championship? Why wouldn’ t we ask him some questions, not just the WorldSBK guys?
So, we’ ll have a starter for ten question for Booth-Amos.
Who has been the greatest / best WorldSBK champion?“ I don’ t know why, but as a kid I was always a Max Biaggi fan,” said Tom of the double Aprilia WorldSBK champion.“ I dunno why, but as long as I can remember it was Max. Probably because my dad was a Biaggi fan. He was super-smooth and a two-time champion. I also remember when he was on a two-stroke 500 in MotoGP, he did that wheelie across the finish line and nearly looped it. At Brno, I think it was. I remember that!”
Even though he is no longer a kid, and has reached the ripe old age of 30, Tom is way too young to remember the very first eras of WorldSBK, of course. But we still asked him the same question as we asked everybody else. What has been the best ever era of WorldSBK racing?
“ I don’ t remember the early years personally, but I would say around the 2000s,” said Tom at Motorland Aragon, just before he went out to score another podium.“ I don’ t really remember it, but I think the Bayliss and Edwards era was probably the best and the most competitive it’ s been- those guys who were close together. Nowadays, WorldSBK is difficult and competitive, but I felt it was even closer back then. Edwards / Bayliss was my favourite era. And I just remember it better. The bikes were cooler, too- they were more direct factory bikes.”
And now the biggie. What is Tom’ s own favourite or most memorable WorldSBK moment?
“ I think my best memory or time in this paddock was at Phillip Island last year- because it was my first WorldSSP race win, on the PTR Triumph. Or maybe when in Assen in WorldSSP300, in 2021. It was big for my team, as they were Dutch, and with Dutch sponsors, and the whole team was either Dutch or German. So it was big for the whole squad- for more people than just myself.”
BEST OF THE BEST
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