Surprise: Triumph to field a second SSP World Championship team – who will get factory status?

Since the introduction of the ‘Next Generation Rules’ – which now allow motorbikes with engine capacities of up to 955 cc in the Supersport World Championship – Triumph has been competing in the middleweight category with a factory-backed team. In 2021, Simon Buckmaster’s PTR team – which had previously worked with Honda for many years – was chosen as a partner. Following a year of preparation in the British Championship, the team made its debut in the Supersport World Championship in 2022 with the Street Triple 765 RS.

PTR transformed the production model into a winning race machine, and Stefano Manzi secured his first podium finishes – second and third places – at Most in late July during his very first season. In early October 2022 , the Italian went one better with a victory at Portimão, and Manzi finished the World Championship in sixth place. Since 2022, the team has secured four victories and 23 podium finishes, with Tom Booth-Amos achieving the best overall World Championship result in 2025 by finishing fourth.

PTR has set several milestones: in 2022, Manzi secured Triumph’s first victory in a motorcycle world championship on a circuit – excluding the Moto2 class with its standardised engines. Booth-Amos became the first Briton to win a World Championship race on a Triumph; at his home race in 2026, he caused another sensation by winning both races at Donington Park. All the history that Triumph has made in the Supersport World Championship is down to PTR.

Renegade returns to racing

Yet despite these achievements, talks have been taking place between Triumph manager Steve Sargent and Marc Griffith since at least the races at Donington Park in early July. The Briton competed in the BSB with his Renegade Ducati team at the turn of the millennium, before making his debut in the World Superbike Championship in 2004. Well-known names such as Noriyuki Haga, Ben Bostrom and Leon Haslam were under contract with him. Griffith enjoys a strong reputation, but has not managed a team on a day-to-day basis for over 20 years.

Griffith presented Sargent with a project for the 2027 Supersport World Championship, which is not only financially attractive for the traditional British brand but would also allow it to continue working with Donington double winner Tom Booth-Amos. Even before his home race, it was already clear that the 30-year-old and the PTR team would be parting ways at the end of this season.

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It is unclear whether Triumph will have two equal, factory-supported teams – Renegade and PTR – for 2027, or whether it will give preferential treatment to Renegade. Triumph must proceed with caution, as the Chinese manufacturer QJ Motor has also expressed interest in the PTR team, as reported by SPEEDWEEK.com.