Image: Bonnie Lane.

It was a strong start to the 2023 British Supersport Championship for Tom Toparis at Silverstone who concluded the opening round with a podium finish in race two.

Toparis joined the coveted Macadam Racing Yamaha team – who acquired assets and staff from four-time champions Appleyard Macadam at the end of last year – for 2023, marking his full-time return to racing following a humerus bone operation in March 2021.

The two-time Australian Supersport champion qualified fourth fastest on the national circuit, and recovered from a bad start in the sprint race to reach P4 to open the season. The Australian went one better in the feature race, securing his first podium of 2023 with a solid ride to third which included the fastest lap of the race on his way to finishing just 0.449s from the lead.

“So happy to end the first weekend of the year on the podium. It was a quick pace throughout the 25-lap race so I was glad to be in touch with the lead group over the full distance,” said Toparis.

“I’m so proud of my Macadam Racing team for the work put in over the whole weekend. We worked hard, made loads of changes to get me more comfortable on my new machine around Silverstone, and more importantly I feel like I’ve been focusing on learning how I can adapt my style to suit this particular R6 (compared to my bike back home).”

Following the opening round of the season, Toparis is second in the Supersport standings and 12 points back on leader Lee Johnston (Ashcourt Racing) as the series moves to Oulton Park on 29 April – 1 May.