2023 British Superbikes Thruxton Race Results (3)

Results from race three, round seven of the 2023 Bennetts Superbike Championship at Thruxton.

Jason O’Halloran worked through the pack again to take a sublime Thruxton treble to end round seven of the British Superbike championship.

It was Ryan Vickers who held pole this time out, with O’Halloran down in ninth on the grid, so another fight through the pack would be required.

A poor start saw the McAMS rider drop to eleventh as he again made tyre conservation his main concern. Meanwhile, out front rookie Max Cook was on fire after crashing out of race two, leading the way and keeping the pace hot.

Once again the Australian made his way forward with huge gains around the back of the circuit, where he excels.

The Yamaha rider hit a road block when he hit the front of the chasing group, but soon set about making seventh the back of the leaders.

Once in touch, what was to come felt inevitable.With enough laps left to hit the front, the section between Noble and Church was his as one by one his rivals had to give way as he cut undernath with superior grip.

Fourth at the start of lap eighteen of twenty, after a huge rehearsal move saw him almost take all the riders ahead at once, on the penultimate lap there was now only Lee Jackson ahead.

Sat behind in the slipstream the #22 made use of his favoured part of the track again, and lead at the start of the last lap.

O’Halloran was going nowhere once out in the lead and took his 26th win, securing his Thruxton treble in thrilling style.

Jackson had tried to go with his Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki teammate’s early pace, setting him near the front of the lead group. The #14 had made his move for the win on lap eighteen too, passing Vickers up the inside, but had no reply to O’Halloran and his superior grip, crossing the line 0.213s later for his second rostrum visit.

Vickers fought back in the busy front group but missed out on a podium.

Rookies shine again in final Thruxton race

Despite biting back after Jackson’s lunge for the lead Vickers had rookies in the mix for the podium slots, and both seemed unbothered by the tyre wear that was the talk of the weekend.

As O’Halloran hit the front, Nesbitt was making moves of his own, making his advance on the LAMI OMG Yamaha stick to move into third. The Crendon Honda by Hawk Racing rider held his move and blocked his rivals, then pulled away for a trilogy of rostrum visits.

Max Cook, the early leader took fourth after getting the holeshot on the second Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki, with Vickers fifth.

Leon Haslam had sunk like a stone mid-race but found some grip and rhythm in the closing laps to climb back to Sixth for his Rokit BMW Motorrad team, once again the top rider for the manufacturer.

Kyle Ryde had once again been in contention until he ran very wide onto the grass, having just been passed by O’Halloran who could grip his way through the inside. There was no penalty for his move onto the green as he lost so much ground, going from top three contender to finish seventh.

Storm Stacey improved every race of the Thruxton meet, this time securing eighth for Starline Racing Kawasaki.

Ninth went to Peter Hickman after a lonely ride on the FAO Racing BMW Motorrad, with Christian Iddon next to see the chequered flag for a top ten finish for Oxford Products Ducati.

Bradley Perie pulled his way up into the points and didn’t stop there – scoring a best finish of eleventh after a huge final lap on the Lee Hardy Racing Kawasaki.

Luke Mossey (BMW Tactix by Lloyd & Jones) took twelfth with the BeerMonster Ducati’s again at the back in the battle for the final points.

Tommy Bridewell had hoped some late changes would make a small difference, and he was for a while ahead of his teammate, but it was Glenn Irwin ahead at the finish in 13th, with the local rider 15th on his home track.

Franco Bourne, in for Andrew Irwin at Honda Racing UK, had his best finish of the weekend between the duo in 14th.

Official British Superbike Thruxton Records:

Lap Record: Josh Brookes (Ducati) 1m 14.655s (2019)

Race One:

1:Jason O’Halloran

2:Charlie Nesbitt

3:Ryan Vickers

Race Two:

1:Jason O’Halloran

2:Lee Jackson

3:Charlie Nesbitt

2022 at Thruxton (Round Six)

Pole: Jason O’Halloran (2nd Peter Hickman, 3rd Andrew Irwin)

Race One:

1:Jason O’Halloran

2:Tarran Mackenzie

3:Bradley Ray

Race Two:

1:Jason O’Halloran

2:Tarran Mackenzie

3: Bradley Ray

Race Three:

1:Tarran Mackenzie

2:Bradley Ray

3:Jason O’Halloran

Last Round (Brands Hatch)

Pole: Tommy Bridewell (2nd Ryan Vickers, 3rd Josh Brookes)

Race One:

1:Ryan Vickers

2:Danny Kent

3:Christian Iddon

Race Two:

1: Tommy Bridewell

2:Christian iddon

3:Danny Kent

Race Three:

1:Tommy Bridewell

2:Glenn Irwin

3:Ryan Vickers

Crashes and Injuries and replacements

A huge late incident took Danny Kent and Jack Kennedy out of contention.

Kennedy seemed to have his rear cylinder collapse and was out of control on the grass. Unable to do anything to prevent his bike running back on to the track he rejoined ahead of the next group of riders, with Danny Kent the last of the three. All routes blocked by the bikes in front, Kent was left with nowhere to go leading to a horrible crash for the duo.

Both riders were up and walking and with the marshals as the race drew to a close.

Both Tito Rabat and Josh Brookes ended their race in the pits,

Where does that leave the championship?

Bridewell still leads, again with Irwin taking a few points off the gap. His tally now stands at 263, with Irwin 26.5 behind.

Starting the weekend sixth, O’Halloran is now third overall after three wins, reducing his deficit from 99.5 at the start of the Thruxton weekend to 50.5, with 212.

Ryde slips to fourth on 208 with Haslam fifth on 201.