Kyle Smith has been chosen to lead Triumph’s intriguing return to the racing arena in the British Supersport Championship, where it is set go at odds with its main rivals by running a pilot 765cc three-cylinder model in 2021.
The 29-year old has been one of the UK’s leading representatives on the WorldSSP scene in recent years with two victories to his name during his debut season in 2016 and six podiums since then.
For 2021, Smith will return to British shores to head up a fresh new challenge in British Supersport as part of the factory-backed Dynavolt Triumph squad, which will be run by the experienced Performance Technical Racing team (PTR).
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“I’m very excited to be back with PTR in a whole new project,” said former Moto2 racer Smith. “It will be exciting to be in a full British set-up racing in the UK where, except for Donington Park, I have never raced even though I’m English. I’m very grateful that Triumph, Simon and the team have counted on me. I think it is a great opportunity and we will have a fantastic year racing”.
Though Triumph experienced substantial success with its Daytona 675 until fairly recently, it has been prevented from competing since that model was discontinued as its only viable bodystyle uses a 765cc engine, which is outside of the regulation parameters.
However, in the fact of dwindling grids, the FIM is evaluating whether to expand the capacity allowance to 960cc, which would allow Triumph and Ducati with its V2 to compete. The Triumph model is expected to be based on the Street Triple RS with bodywork, rather than use the limited edition Daytona 765cc.
“I am really pleased to see Kyle racing on a Triumph and of course it is great news that there will be a British rider spearheading the team,” Triumph’s Chief Product Officer Steve Sargent said. Kyle has proven his talent on the World stage and it will be great for the British public and Triumph fans to see him racing in the UK.
I am sure that his experience will help us to develop the bike and it will be exciting to see how Kyle and the team progress in the 2021 British Supersport championship.”
Meanwhile, team manager Simon Buckmaster says Smith’s arrival gives the team world championship gravitas to help it forge an anticipated path back to the WorldSSP Championship in 2022 should the FIM ratify the change in regulations
“For us to re-sign Kyle is exciting news. We’re a British team with a British bike and we’ve come back with a British rider that is well known to us. We felt we needed an experienced rider to lead the development with our team for this exciting new project.
Kyle has won races for us, he finished top five in the World Championship, he was the last winner on a Honda and the last podium finisher on a Honda, all for us so there is a lot of synergy between us. We can‘t wait for the season to start with a rider and a team that know each other well to give us the best chance of hitting the ground running and achieving success from the word go.
“He hasn’t raced in the British Championship, but there is a great testing programme put forward by MSVR before the season starts and we will make sure he is up to speed on all the tracks and he has got the grit and determination to do a great job for us in 2021. Of course, with his experience we would look to go back into the World Championship with Kyle in 2022.”
