Bayliss bags another double podium at thrilling Thruxton

Oli Bayliss kept his podium run alive at Thruxton with two hard-fought top-three finishes in a dramatic British Supersport weekend

The Quattro British Supersport Championship resumed this weekend at the high-speed Thruxton circuit in Hampshire, and Oli Bayliss extended his run of podium finishes on the Macadam Triumph Factory Racing Street Triple 765 RS.

Facing yet another unfamiliar venue in the British championship, the Australian adapted quickly to the 2.35-mile track, famed for its rapid, intense racing. By the end of the opening day, he was third on the combined timesheets.

In hot conditions on and off the track for Saturday’s qualifying, Bayliss secured fourth on the grid to start from the second row, with only 0.703s covering the leading four riders. The 12-lap Sprint Race immediately developed into a fierce scrap, with Bayliss joined by some recognisable rivals in 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.

When the race got underway, Thruxton delivered its usual all-action opening and Bayliss settled into sixth during the early laps. He soon found himself in a fight with Dean Harrison, the two exchanging positions before Bayliss made a decisive pass to move into fourth.

From there, Bayliss advanced into third and began closing on Öncu and Stapleford in front, with all three chasing victory. Late drama saw the order changing rapidly, and by the final chicane the leading trio were side by side. At the chequered flag, Bayliss claimed third place.

After recording the fastest lap in Saturday’s Sprint contest with a 1:16.995, Bayliss put his Street Triple 765 RS on pole position for the 18-lap Feature race. He launched strongly to grab the holeshot, but Whatley and Harry Truelove were soon in pursuit and both got ahead, pushing Bayliss back to third.

The race was then set for another relentless fight, with positions constantly changing in a fast and physical contest. On lap eight, Bayliss returned to the lead, although Öncu, Stapleford and Jack Kennedy were all right there in contention.

As the leading four swapped places and took advantage of the slipstream, they even ran four abreast at times. However, on lap 15, an incident further back prompted the Safety Car. Once racing resumed and the Safety Car peeled into the pit lane, the podium fight came down to Öncu, Stapleford and Bayliss. Bayliss attacked for second place and held on to the flag, sealing his second podium of the weekend.

In the championship standings, Luke Stapleford continues to lead the way on 301 points, with Jack Kennedy second on 246 and Oli Bayliss holding an impressive third place on 234 despite missing the first two rounds. Among the other Australians in the series, Ben Currie sits fifth overall on 184 points as he recuperates from injuries sustained at Oulton Park, Billy McConnell is 12th with 71, and Jack Mahaffy holds 13th on 58 points.

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!”

2026 BSB SUPERSPORT STANDINGS