Tom Booth-Amos: Rebirth after the storm lived in Moto3
One of the names risen to the top in the Supersport World Championship during the last couple of years is Tom Booth-Amos.
Many racing fans still remember him from when he raced in Moto3 World Championship back in 2019 (and the video that came to surface in 2022), but “TBA” managed to start fresh after that tough season, and rebuilt his career as he secured race wins and podiums in the WorldSSP300. And World Supersport makes no exception: the British rider, a WorldSSP regular since 2022, finished 4th overall in 2025 and he keeps being a podium finisher with the PTR Triumph Racing Team, despite some setbacks.
Palmen in Motorradsport managed to interview Tom Booth-Amos to talk about 2026, the highs and lows of his career and more, including an interesting fact about him.
Tom, how is the 2026 season going?
Obviously the start of the season wasn't really what I expected, as I just struggled with many things. But from Assen onwards I kind of got back what I needed with the bike and, as shown by the results, I got back to my normal self. If I can get back to the top three in the championship, that would be ideal, but it's going to be tough because I'm so many points behind. After doing well last year I thought I'd fight for the championship, but sometimes it doesn't go to plan unfortunately. I now hope to fight consistently for podiums and wins.
So do you expect to return winning races during this season?
Definitely. We just need to piece things together to make it happen, but for sure it's possible.
Let’s now step back to when you were doing a different sport, and then moved to motorcycle racing. What triggered such change?
I was a gymnast for all of my life, as long as I remember. I didn't really go to school as such. I just trained every day in the gym, aiming to go to the Olympics. But one day, when I was 16, I just decided I didn't want to do it anymore. Since when I was four or five, I trained in the gym every day and I had only one day off a week. It was just too much and despite being really good, I wasn't really interested in it anymore. Then I asked to my dad, who used to be a racer too, if we go give motorcycle racing a go, because that's what he did and my granddad raced cars. For some reason, they never really pushed me into it as a kid, but I finally made that move and we found out that I was really good at it.
And how was the start of your career?
I don't come from a family with money, so I just bounced around teams hoping that any of them could give me a free ride. Then, in 2016, a team (RS City Lifting, ed) offered me a seat and a Grand Prix wildcard for the 2017 season, and they asked for just 20k euro, which was nothing. We scraped the money together from sponsors and got the ride, but I knew that it was going to be my last attempt: if nothing happened after that year, then I would have stopped.
It turned out to be a great year: I became British Moto3 Champion, won almost all the races, and finished 16th as a wildcard in the Moto3 World Championship at Silverstone. Then I luckily got picked up by Dorna and Honda, and that’s when my career kicked off. That was pure luck of being at the right time in the right place, to be honest. If it wasn't for that, then I probably wouldn't be racing now.
Then you went to the Moto3 Junior World Championship with the British Talent Team, but you had a tough year.
It was a hard one. I had injuries that year and going from the British Championship to Spanish Championship was a big change. I didn't really expect it to be as big as a jump as it was: you're kind of just thrown in at the deep end. There was a lot of support, but they just kind of chucked you in and told you to get on with it. It was difficult, also because I moved to Spain being still young. Looking back, I would have liked to do two years in the Junior World Championship, but after just one season I was kind of forced to move already to the Moto3 World Championship. It was the only option I had to continue racing.
Why? Wasn’t there any chance to stay one more year in CEV?
No. Racing in Moto3 with CIP Green Power was the only option available, because they told me there was no room for me in the CEV. And, clearly said, they needed a British rider in the Grand Prix Championship, I guess for contractual reasons with TV.
And how was your season in the Moto3 World Championship?
It was horrible. Not a waste of time obviously, because I actually had a good result in Australia and proved that I could do the job, but the whole situation with the team and everything was just a shit show. Everyone saw the video of what happened there, but that's another story. I was basically in an amateur team and set up, and I never really got the opportunity that I think I deserved to be able to show what I could do. At the end of the year, Dorna pulled the funding from me, and that was when I got dumped and had nothing else.
How did you live that situation, when you remained out of the MotoGP paddock?
Once the season was finished, I was actually retired. I kind of called it a day after that. I wasn't really interested in doing anything, because I had such a bad year and kind of lost the love of racing. But one day Jeremy McWilliams called me and said, after I told him I had no seat, that I was too good to be doing nothing. Finally, he became the person that actually got me the ride in Supersport 300 World Championship.
I didn't really know anything about it, because I'd been all about Grand Prix and didn't watch World Superbikes, but he did everything he could to get me that SSP300 ride. I also secured a great factory deal from Kawasaki Europe, which ended up paying for my ride for the next four years. I was pretty lucky.
What can you say about your seasons in the WorldSSP300?
Once I got back in the idea that I was going racing again, I started getting going and then actually thought that I could make a career out of this. And although it's another direction to Grand Prix, it was the same story: I had no money, so I kind of had to fight everything I could to keep going in World Superbikes as well. And it's good: I was with a good team (RT Motorsports by SKM, ed) and good people around me. In 2021 I finished second in the World Championship, but after I got wiped out and broke my thumb when battling for the title. It’s a shame, but still the season was good. Then I got picked up again by Kawasaki, and thanks to them I could race in World Supersport for the following two seasons.
What was your best race in the Supersport 300 class?
At Assen in 2021. I crashed in the first race, but then I won Race 2 and it was special to do it at the home round of my team, and the home round of the team’s sponsors as well.
And what can you tell us about the years spend in World Supersport with Kawasaki?
I was with the Prodina team and I was thankful for them: there were no Kawasaki bikes available on the field and they came along and decided to run a bike in the WorldSSP for me. I appreciated it, also because for me they jumped to a new category for them. The 600cc was new to me and also to the team, so the season was of course difficult. I also broke my leg in Assen, so I was out for a while injured.
Towards the end of the season, the Motozoo Racing Team called me and said they were going to get rid of their rider, if I wanted to go do the last three races with them. They were in Argentina, Indonesia and Australia. I just had to pay for the flights and I was free (Prodina raced only the European rounds, ed), so I accepted the offer. I also finished one race in the top 10 (8th in Race 1 at Phillip Island, ed), so I was actually pretty happy with that and in 2023 I stayed with Motozoo. 2023 was a good year: I won the WorldSSP Challenge (ranking for the riders taking part only in the European rounds, ed), so it was fine.
And then you moved to PTR Triumph. How does it feel to be in such position, being a British rider?
Now I am a proper factory rider with Triumph, so that's pretty cool. Now I have been with them for three years, and we have kind of become friends and not just work partners. And despite PTR being a British team, there are actually few British people here and those who work with me are all from abroad (including Crew Chief Marco Agostini, ed).
At this stage, what’s your goal for the future?
To be honest, I don't know at the moment. It’s very difficult to get to World Superbike, because you either have to pay half a million euros or come from MotoGP. So, at the moment, I'm just focused on trying to win a world championship for Triumph and for myself. This year it’s no longer possible, but that’s my biggest goal for now.
Would you be open to a return to Grand Prix racing?
No, I wouldn't go back, also because I am quite old for it. A couple of years ago we thought about going to Moto2, but we finally didn’t.
Did you get any offer to race in Moto2?
Any rider can have an offer, if they've got money (laughs, ed). If you've got half a million euros it's fine, but we don't. Anyway I'm happy where I am now. With Triumph, as I said before, the goal is to try and win a championship.
Can you now share something curious about you?
I have a big collection of classic bikes and cars. I have around 50 bikes and some of them are particularly special. I've got one of Dani Pedrosa's old 125cc bikes from the Spanish Championship, and I've also got an old 250 Grand Prix bike ridden in the World Championship by Gregory Leblanc. A friend of mine keeps it running, because otherwise it just sits in my house, and now it gets to go to shows and travels all over the place. After Aragon, I was at a festival of old bikes and there I always get to ride a couple of them. In 2025, I even rode one of the bikes used by Daijiro Kato. Yeah…I love two strokes!
In conclusion, do you want to thank anyone in particular?
I want to thank Triumph Factory Racing, for believing in me for the last three years.
Palmen in Motorradsport is grateful to Tom Booth Amos for his time and to Ryan Lilly of Motocom Ltd for arranging the interview. Best wishes to “TBA” and the PTR Triumph Racing Team for the next races and seasons.
