BSB Thruxton: Jason O'Halloran doubles up with sensational race two performance

Jason O’Halloran performed yet another Thruxton masterclass to take his second Bennetts British Superbike Championship victory of the weekend.

The McAMS Yamaha racer started the race from the third row and dropped as far back as 10th in the early stages. However, the veteran conserved the tyre brilliantly and used his vast experience and knowledge of the circuit to make his way through the order.

O’Halloran caught the leaders with a few laps remaining and made easy work of it as he dove down the inside of them through Church. Once in the lead, O’Halloran went quicker than anybody and pulled away with ease. It’s the Australian’s seventh victory in the last eight races at Thruxton.

Lee Jackson came home in second to secure his and Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki’s first podium of the 2023 season, whilst Charlie Nesbitt added a second podium to his BSB CV in third spot.

Ryan Vickers was fourth after holding off a late charge from Mar-Train Yamaha’s Jack Kennedy, whilst his LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha teammate Kyle Ryde was sixth. The latter was handed a long lap equivalent time penalty for exceeding track limits.

Leon Haslam was the leading BMW rider in seventh, just ahead of FHO Racing BMW’s Peter Hickman. Christian Iddon and Danny Kent completed the top 10. Storm Stacey was 11^th ahead of Bradley Perie.

BeerMonster Ducati’s woes continued in race two, with title fighters Glenn Irwin and Tommy Bridewell crossing the line in 13^th and 14^th respectively. Tom Neave secured the final point available in the race.

Disaster struck for Max Cook whilst battling for in the lead group. As the pack headed towards the chicane, Nesbitt ran wide and as he re-joined, other riders had to react with Kent unable to avoid nudging Cook onto the green. Cook did all he could but was thrown from his Kawasaki and was fortunate not to be struck by another rider.

Dean Harrison returned to the pits at the end of lap five to retire his DAO Racing Kawasaki.

The third and final BSB race of the weekend at Thruxton is due to begin at 16:30.

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Jason O’Halloran proved that experience is key in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship in the opening race of the weekend at Thruxton as he stormed to victory.

The Aussie made a fantastic start to the race before being caught by the leading pack and briefly losing the lead to Lee Jackson. Getting into his rhythm, O’Halloran began to control the pace and manage his tyres, before pulling the pin on lap 10 and recording the fastest lap out on circuit.

From then nobody could stick with the McAMS Yamaha rider who crossed the line with an advantage of 1.591s. It’s O’Halloran’s sixth victory in the last seven races held at Thruxton, and the team’s seventh consecutive race win at the circuit.

Behind O’Halloran there was a fantastic four-way battle for the final two steps on the podium. Ryan Vickers and Lee Jackson held those positions heading towards the final chicane, but almost came together which allowed rookie Charlie Nesbit to take advantage and clinch second. It’s Nesbitt’s first-ever podium in the superbike class.

Max Cook came so close to taking advantage as well on his Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki, but ended up being pipped to the line by Vickers by just 0.013s. It’s Cook’s best result of his rookie campaign in BSB so far.

Teammate Jackson had to settle for fifth in the end but will be encouraged by the speed shown not only by him, but by teammate Cook.

Leon Haslam and Danny Kent got the better of Kyle Ryde in the closing stages to finish sixth and seventh respectively. Ryde was challenging for the lead in the opening stages of the race but appeared to lose grip in the final few lap and had to settle for eighth.

Glenn Irwin was the top Ducati rider in ninth, whilst Peter Hickman pipped Jack Kennedy to 10^th spot on his FHO Racing BMW M1000 RR. Luke Mossey came home in 12^th, whilst Christian Iddon, championship leader Tommy Bridewell and two-time champion Josh Brookes secured the final points on offer.

Storm Stacey crossed the line in 16^th after being forced to start from the back of the grid. He was set to start seventh but was wheeled off the grid with an issue moments before the start of the warm up lap.

Sunday’s BSB races are due to take place at 13:30 and 16:30.

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Jason O’Halloran secured his second pole of the 2023 Bennetts British Superbike Championship this afternoon as Yamaha continued their domination at Thruxton.

O’Halloran has won five of the last six races at Thruxton, whilst Yamaha locked out the podium in all three races at the Hampshire circuit in 2022.

The poleman, who also ended Friday at the top of the combined free practice times, posted a best lap-time of 1:14.634. That was enough to give him an advantage of 0.284s over Ryan Vickers, with the duo being the only riders to dip into the 1:14s.

Kyle Ryde completed the front row on the second of the LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha R1s, but was 0.538s adrift of O’Halloran’s pole time.

Lee Jackson heads row two for Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki and is joined by young guns Charlie Nesbitt and Max Cook. Nesbitt equals his best qualifying performance in fifth, whilst sixth is the best-ever grid slot for Cook. Thruxton is the home circuit for both riders.

Storm Stacey qualified in seventh, meaning that there three Kawasaki riders inside the top seven. Title contender Glenn Irwin is the best-placed Ducati rider in eighth, whilst Jack Kennedy and Leon Haslam complete the top 10.

Luke Mossey impressed in 11^th for Tactix by Lloyd and Jones BMW, qualifying ahead of Brands Hatch podium finisher Danny Kent and Peter Hickman.

Dean Harrison will start race one from 14^th, whilst championship leader Tommy Bridewell struggled onboard his Ducati V4 R in 15^th. Bradley Perie and Christian Iddon qualified in 16^th and 17^th respectively, with Danny Buchan completing the Q2 session for SYNETIQ BMW.

Hector Barbera missed out on a spot in Q2 by only 0.060s onboard the TAG Racing Honda and will start race one at Thruxton from 19^th on the grid. He’s joined on row seven by fellow Spaniard Tito Rabat, who continues with McAMS Yamaha this weekend.

Josh Brookes woes onboard the FHO Racing BMW M1000 RR continued. The Australian will start the opening race from 21^st on the grid and he and the team focused on the harder rear tyre once he returned to the pit box. In a TV interview with Eurosport’s Shakey Bryne, team manager Darren Jones confirmed that grip is the main issue for Brookes.

Jack Scott qualified 21^st, with Franco Bourne, Tom Neave and newcomer Louis Valleley complete the field. Valleley replaces Liam Delves at Rapid CDH Racing Kawasaki and currently lies fifth in the Pirelli National Junior Superstock Championship.

The opening BSB race of the weekend at Thruxton is due to begin at 16:15.