Highs and lows for Tom Booth-Amos
Tom Booth-Amos endured joy and pain during round four of the 2023 British Superbike Championship at Knockhill in Scotland.
The Gearlink Kawasaki rider claimed victory in his first race in the Supersport but crashed during his second outing.
Fellow Newport racer Harry Rowlings, riding for Nova Racing Team, showed consistent form to bag a second and third in the GP2 class.
Friday’s first free practice session saw Booth-Amos end with the third fastest time, 49:931s, in his class while Rowlings was fifth quickest in GP2.
Free practice two saw both Booth-Amos and Rowlings improve their earlier times.
Saturday’s qualifying took place under perfect blue skies and Booth-Amos clocked 49.213s on his final circulation to claim pole position by a slender 0.051s ahead of Luke Stapleford.
In the GP2 Class, Rowlings’ time of 51.575s saw him qualify in third.
Saturday’s 20-lap sprint race saw Booth-Amos battle with his championship rivals Rhys Irwin and Stapleford.
The lead changed multiple times between Booth-Amos and Stapleford but it was the Newport man who claimed victory after a dramatic run out of the final corner.
Rowlings made a steady start to his GP2 race but was pushed wide as he exited turn three for the first time and lost multiple positions.
He regained his composure and was third by mid-race. Leader Joe Collier then crashed out on the final lap which promoted Rowlings to second behind his team-mate Cameron Fraser.
Sunday’s 25-lap feature race brought misfortune for Booth-Amos in the Supersport class. He led after lap one but a collision on lap two brought out the red flag.
The race was restarted and re-run over 20 laps. Once again, Booth-Amos got off to a flying start. By the end of the opening lap, Booth-Amos, Rhys Irwin, and Ben Currrie had pulled away from the rest of the field. But, halfway around lap three, Booth-Amos took too much speed into the chicane and crashed heavily.
In the GP2 Class, Rowlings made a strong start and was behind Fraser as the riders entered turn one for the first time.
By mid-race, Rowlings had worked his way through and was battling with Lucca Allen for third position while setting consistently quick lap times. And he eventually got the better of his rival during the final laps to claim third.
After four rounds of the Supersport Championship, Booth Amos sits in third position, while Rowlings is third in the GP2 Championship.
Round five takes place at Snetterton in Norfolk, on July 8-9.
