Jason O’Halloran dominated round seven of the British Superbikes championship in Thruxton, coming away with all three wins in style.
The McAMS rider was in charge from first practice to the final race of Sunday, with his only blip a cautious wet practice session.
The Yamaha man holds a strong record at Thruxton having now taken victory in eight out of the last nine races at the circuit. O’Halloran is now the manufacturers most successful BSB rider, with his 26th win in race three surpassing the record of Niall Mackenzie.
Moving from sixth to third in the championship, it was Aussie rules – but in a variety of different ways over the three races.
‘I had to go through on Lee before the last lap’
The #22 reflected in the press conference on how he had a good feeling from the very start, allowing him to fine tune what was needed for a win:
“Incredible weekend from start to finish. We topped every session other than the wet FP3, had a great feeling on the bike straight away, allowed us to do our work throughout the weekend and plan for the races. I know from the last couple of years here, its all about strategy here, its really not about how fast you can go in the race, its about planning your races”.
The sprint on Saturday saw the Australian able to control the race from the front, but a need to power through the pack in both race two and three brought exciting racing and a slew of overtakes from O’Halloran, once trying to pass three rides at once in the back section of the track where he was strongest, making up a huge eight places in race three, more than any other rider:
“Today I had to be quite clever, I knew starting on row three was going to be difficult to get through quickly especially the people that I was around, they were probably using a but too much tyre for the first half of the race, and I didn’t really want to get drawn into that.
I can’t tell you how much the bike changes in the last two or three laps around here you know – you get to the end. You see lap 17 or 18 and think ‘we’re nearly home’, but the last two or three laps – it’s such a long time with the tyres gone!”
In what could have been a tough weekend – the McAMS / Raceways outfit announced they were stepping away from BSB after 2023 ahead of Thruxton, with LAMI OMG installed as the ‘factory’ outfit and O’Halloran out of a seat, there was instead a strong feeling of joy at what was achieved by rider and team:
“I had to go through on Lee before the last lap, I didn’t really want to leave it until the last lap, I wanted to make sure in front then I could put my head down, managed to do that and get another triple win – incredible weekend. Going to enjoy this one as we’ve had a few ups and downs this year”.
‘My game plan from the word go was if Jason passes me then I’ve got to go with Jason’.
It was the same podium as seen in race two, as race three echoed it’s predecessor with another O’Halloran ride through the pack it was once again Lee Jackson on the second step for his second rostrum visit – also the second for Kawasaki as he continued to be their best rider this season despite competition this round from his Cheshire Mouldings rookie teammate Max Cook.
Jackson benefited from a better grid position and tyre wear among his rivals, who went hard from the off:
“I started a little bit higher up the grid which made things a little easier but you know the same guys still get away at the front, still makes the race hard. It was definitely, for me the case of just sitting back and seeing what I could do with the tyre.
The pace was fast, a lot faster than race one (of the day) I knew the guys at the front were getting a bit too excited and going a bit too soon,so for me it was a case of sitting back and mainly managing the guys behind. I was having a bit of a battle with Danny Kent for a couple of laps and he duffed me up and then I had to pass him back and then I could see that my teammate Max and Ryan got away at the front, but I kind of knew that that wasn’t quite going to happen for them”.
Having seen how O’Halloran was able to manage his tyre in the previous race was a boon to Jackson:
“My game plan from the word go was if Jason passes me then I’ve got to go with Jason, it wasn’t til the last lap that that happened so ot was a great race, I was happy to be back on the podium”.
‘If someone said to me at the start of the weekend you are going to be on the podium three times in one weekend I’d have bit their hand off!’
It was a brilliant weekend from start to finish for 22 year-old rookie Charlie Nesbitt. One of the youngest BSB riders, the Crendon Honda by Hawk Racing rider was there to be reckoned with all weekend, collecting a podium finish in every race at his home round.
Though confident he could achieve in the class at some point, Nesbitt was a little taken aback to have so much success in one weekend:
“If someone said to me at the start of the weekend you are going to be on the podium three times in one weekend I’d have bit their hand off!
It’s been a good weekend, I’ve learnt loads following Jason, Lee Bob, being in the lead group – how to manage a tyre properly in the lead group, its been fantastic and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it “.
Though inexperienced in the BSB class, there was a small bonus for the #86 as the change of tyre that was catching out so many due to a lack of grip, particularly on the sides, was used last season by the Superstock riders, leading to a small advantage over his rivals:
“I think I knew how it would react, to the spin, because I knew what I was riding, what it was going to do, and although I had the tread last year it’s still the same compound, like I said I enjoyed this weekend and can’t wait for the next one!
The three wins sees O’Halloran’s championship hopes reignited – staring the weekend sixth overall with a 99.5 point gap to Bridewell, the BeerMonster Ducati’s struggle to pick up any meaningful points, coupled with a triple win sees a glimmer of hope emerge – the #22 is now third overall with the gap cut to a more hopeful 50.5 points ahead of the next round over the bank holiday weekend at Cadwell Park.
Keyword: British Superbikes - Thruxton: Triple joy for O’Halloran