Triumph expecting to win British and World Supersport championships

PTR boss Simon Buckmaster has his sights firmly set on taking the new Triumph 765 to World Championship glory. After 14 years of using Honda machinery, he expects the new partnership will dethrone the dominant Yamaha R6 in both the British and World championship paddocks.

Returning to BSB for the first time since 2007, Buckmaster admits he has an incredible mountain to climb as he takes on 2021 with brand new machinery, and brand-new riders to the British Supersport category.

“We’ll obviously have to put in significantly more work in than our competitors. All those other teams with other bikes have been running in British Supersport for a few years now. Robin Appleyard’s team has dominated the last few years and done a fantastic job, so we’ve obviously got to do more work than them but we’re an experienced team and our goal has to be to win the championship.”

Working in conjunction with Dorna, the FIM, and MSVR, the PTR team will be pioneering the way for the new 765cc Triumph to become a regulated Supersport machine. Buckmaster chose World Championship race winner Kyle Smith, and 2021 Daytona 200 winner Brandon Paasch as the right riders for the job.

“I think we’ve got two of the best riders in the series. I believe they both have what it takes to win. Brandon does know the tracks as he won the Moto 3 championship in 2019, and Kyle’s a more experienced rider, so I think that they’ll bring a really good balance. Of course, I believe that both of them can fight at the front of this championship and challenge for the title.”

“Kyle I know very well, he’s ridden for us in 2016 and 2018, it’s great to be back together with him. Although he is British, he’s lived in Spain since he was 6, so he’s only actually done one of the BSB tracks. He’s a fantastic lad I’m sure all the British fans will love him, he gives 100% every time. He’s just a really nice, fast guy so that was an easy decision. I knew that he hadn’t got a ride, and to be honest I believed he was the man for us.”

“Brandon is something that was actually discussed with Stuart Higgs. Some people have criticised us and asked why we haven’t gone for a young British rider. We did talk to some British riders, but the ones that we considered good for the project already had other opportunities. The American market is obviously a very important market for Triumph, Brandon’s an exciting young talent and I do believe it’ll bring something extra to the British series.”

Whilst the PTR Triumph team are gunning for glory in the BSB paddock, their duty is also to work alongside Dorna, the FIM, and MSVR to be adapting the category to accommodate new engine capacities and revitalise the class.

“We did some development in Italy last year and looking at the performance of the bike it’s right there. The aim of developing the new rules is not to come here and have a bike that’s miles better than anyone else’s, the idea is to balance it against the R6. The idea is not to just have a free hand, because obviously with a free hand and 165cc more, we would have a much better bike than theirs. The aim is to look at the data so that Scott Smart (WorldSBK Technical Director) can clearly see what needs to be done. He has put a lot of work into this so there’s as much of a level playing field as possible so that it’s the best teams and the best riders that win, and you can’t have a better formula than that.”

Buckmaster also spoke of the possibility of competitors seeing the Triumph 765 as an unfair advantage.

“At certain events there will be the dyno there. Let’s say that Kyle and Brandon are winning all the races and everyone’s think that it’s not fair, we’ll be able to put our bikes and any of the others on the same dyno on the same day and say look you can clearly see that the performance of these bikes are balanced. If you look at Robin Appleyard’s team, they’ve dominated the last two years, but is it because their bike is better than anyone elses? No, it’s because they’ve done a better job, and now it’s our job to come and take that off them.” 

Once they’ve conquered the British scene, the plan is very much to take the Triumph Daytona 765 to World Championship racing. Buckmaster’s PTR team has come close to winning the World Supersport title in the past with names like Sam Lowes, Eugene Laverty, and Jules Cluzel, but now Buckmaster hopes the Triumph will bring him that victory.

“Our aim is to take it over to World Championships and that’s also Triumphs aim. A big thanks to MSVR and to Stuart Higgs as they’ve given us the opportunity to work with them. I have to say I’ve never known in all my years in racing a situation like this with MSVR. At times, they’ve been in competition in World Superbike and Dorna, but now we have MSVR, Dorna, the FIM, and us as a team all working together for the good of the sport and I’m genuinely proud to be a part of that.”