The FIM Supersport World Championship welcomed two new members to the winners’ club on Saturday at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve during the Pirelli Portuguese Round, as Stefano Manzi (Dynavolt Triumph) claimed his first victory in the Championship but also the first victory for a ‘next generation’ Supersport machine. Triumph returned to WorldSSP as part of the new rules introduced for this year, running with the PTR Racing team under the Dynavolt Triumph banner, and claimed their first ever victory in the Championship in Portugal.

Manzi made a full-time switch to the Championship for the 2022 season after an impressive one-off outing at Jerez last year, where he took ninth place in the sole WorldSSP race that weekend when racing for GMT94 Yamaha. For 2022, he linked up with Dynavolt Triumph for the PTR Racing team’s return to the Championship, as well as Triumph’s return, and was able to often fight his way through the field; claiming three podiums prior to the Portuguese Round.

At Portimao, Manzi took fourth place in the Tissot Superpole session, comfortably his best grid position of the year, which allowed him to fight at the front from the start of the race rather than fighting his way through the pack. Manzi was consistently in the lead group as he fought for victory and was able to take his, and Triumph’s, first win in WorldSSP. It meant Triumph became the seventh manufacturer to win in WorldSSP, out of the eight who have participated, while they were the first of the ‘next generation’ machines to win after the new ruleset was introduced for 2022.

Reacting to the historic victory, Manzi said: “It’s very special because it’s the first for me here, and also for Triumph. It’s been a very good job from the team. We started from the first race this year, so we were struggling a little bit, not always on top, but race by race we closed the gap and then we were able to get a podium several times and then, now, finally the win. It’s very good because nobody did it before. It’s a bit special. I’m a bit proud of me and my work because it paid off.”

For Team Manager Simon Buckmaster, it completed a full circle for him after he started racing on Triumph machines before leading a team using Triumph’s Street Triple RS to victory in WorldSSP, Triumph’s first win in the class. He spoke about the victory, saying: “To be honest, I am so proud for this to be the first win for Triumph. I started racing on a Triumph way back in 1977, that’s how old I am! The first win by a ‘next generation’ bike so I am really proud of everybody in our little team to achieve such a fantastic thing. A little side thing is that Parkalgar, the Portimao circuit, were the original title sponsor of the team so it’s nice to achieve it here. It couldn’t be better I’m so happy for everybody involved at Triumph who have helped us and all our partners. Congratulations to everybody, I am proud to be part of it.”

Can Triumph add to their 2022 success? Find out in the final three rounds of 2022 using the WorldSBK VideoPass!