Results from race two, round seven of the 2023 Bennetts Superbike Championship at Thruxton.
Jason O’Halloran set himself up for a possible treble after taking the race two win in very different style to the sprint in Thruxton.
The twentieth race of the championship saw the McAMS rider down in seventh on the grid although he won the sprint. A poor start followed by being boxed in saw the Australian drop to tenth, floowed with a struggle to get past Glenn Irwin.
That lead to a change of plan, conserve tyres. The fierce battle for the lead ahead played into O’Halloran’s hands with Kyle Ryde, Ryan Vickers, Lee Jackson, Max Cook and Charlie Nesbitt all enjoying a spell out front as the #22 slowly came into play.
It took to lap thirteen to move away from the chasers and join the back of the lead group. Once in touch his run through Noble to Church saw him pick off places every lap.
Nesbitt’s run out wide setting off a domino chain that hit Danny Kent sending him into an unfortunate Max Cook when his Yamaha was fourth lead O’Halloran to make further moves forward and out of danger.
Second to Jackson on the penultimate lap, his move for the lead was smooth around the outside and looked almost effortless. The ‘O Show’ then pulled away, to lead over the line by 1.176s for seven wins out of the last eight races in BSB at Thruxton.
Jackson went on to collect his first podium of the year after coming close in the sprint, with all the drama allowing him to pull away from the rest on the Cheshire mouldings Kawasaki, but not have enough tyre left to chase down O’Halloran.
Rookie Nesbitt takes consecutive podiums
With his first podium in the bag, his speed had seen Charlie Nesbitt on pole for the second race. Early leader Ryde took no time in getting ahead but the 22 year old was confident and comfortable in the lead group.
His run wide was a result of a move for the lead, showing his determination on the MasterMac Honda by Hawk Racing. A further bobble in the chicane saw another fightback, with his tyre pushed to the limit but holding on for another rostrum visit in third.
Vickers was run out of the podium places in fourth as the top LAMI OMG Yamaha – his teammate Ryde was sixth with a two second post-race long lap penalty equivalent added to his time for a fifth track limits warning at turn ten.
The duo were split by Jack Kennedy, who saw good grip help him make huge late gains on the Mar-Train Yamaha to take fifth.
Leon Haslam Faded to seventh on his Rokit BMW Motorrad after a spell in the lead group, while a late push saw Peter Hickman take the chequered flag in eighth for Fao Racing on his BMW.
Christian Iddon was the top Ducati for Oxford Products as the manufacturer seemed to still have the biggest issue with grip, with low grip still an issue on the side of the tyre.
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He was able to pick up places as both Storm Stacy and Danny Kent slipped back quickly over the final few laps as their tyres faded.
Kent was the first of the pair to cross in tenth for Lovell Kent Honda, also affected by the racing incident he was involved in with Nesbitt and Cook.
After an issue with his bike on the grid, Storm Stacey was forced to leave his seventh place grid slot and line up on the back of the grid. A lot of promise was shown in warm-up where he placed fourth.
Strong pace in that race saw him back in fifth for race two, with a better finish of eleventh the end result for Starline Racing Kawasaki.
Bradley Perie got the better of many more experienced riders to move up to twelfth by the time the finish came into sight for Lee Hardy Racing Kawasaki.
Big names battle for final points
The BeerMonster Ducati Team again found the going tough. Glenn Irwin was the better on track, helped by an elevated grid position of tenth, he still dropped places for 13th at the line, spending much of the second half of the race competing with Tommy Bridewell.
The local rider started 15th and spent much of the race out of the points, moving up to a final 14th. The final point went to Hnda Racing UK’s Tom Neave, meaning that Josh Brookes, whoonr the penultimate lap was sitting twelfth missed out in 17th on the second FHO Racing entry.
Official British Superbike Thruxton Records:
Lap Record: Josh Brookes (Ducati) 1m 14.655s (2019)
Race One:1:Jason O’Halloran2:Charlie Nesbitt
3:Ryan Vickers
2022 at Thruxton (Round Six)
Pole: Jason O’Halloran (2nd Peter Hickman, 3rd Andrew Irwin)
Race One:1:Jason O’Halloran2:Tarran Mackenzie
3:Bradley Ray
Race Two:1:Jason O’Halloran2:Tarran Mackenzie
3: Bradley Ray
Race Three:1:Tarran Mackenzie2:Bradley Ray
3:Jason O’Halloran
Last Round (Brands Hatch)
Pole: Tommy Bridewell (2nd Ryan Vickers, 3rd Josh Brookes)
Race One:1:Ryan Vickers2:Danny Kent
3:Christian Iddon
Race Two:1: Tommy Bridewell2:Christian iddon
3:Danny Kent
Race Three:1:Tommy Bridewell2:Glenn Irwin
3:Ryan Vickers
Crashes and Injuries and replacements
Josh Owens (Crendon Honda) remains absent after picking up a wrist injury in the first practice session.
Franco Bourne was back for Andrew Irwin at Honda Racing UK, he placed 19th.
Dean Harrison entered the pits early in the race. Max cook was the only other faller, escaping injury despite his bike coming back onto the track after his crash.
Where does that leave the championship?
Bridewell still leads, with Irwin only taking one opint out of the difference between them, now at 28.5, with Bridewll on a total of 262 out front.
Ryde remains third overall on 199. Ywo wins at Thruxton brings O’Halloran back into the running, moving on to 194.5, now just 67.5 behind.
Keyword: 2023 British Superbikes Thruxton Race Results (2)