Jason O'Halloran in action for McAMS Yamaha at Thruxton
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 11th 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 14th, whilst championship leader Tommy Bridewell struggled onboard his Ducati V4 R in 15th. Bradley Perie and Christian Iddon qualified in 16th and 17th 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 19th 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 21st 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 21st, 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.
Keyword: BSB Thruxton: Jason O'Halloran takes pole as Yamaha riders dominate