Honda Racing’s Jason O’Halloran is now in an MCE British Superbike Showdown spot after bagging his first rostrum finish of the year at Oulton Park.

The Australian was caught in a fierce battle on track with Be Wiser Ducati’s Glenn Irwin, Tyco BMW’s Christian Iddon and JG Speedfit Kawasaki’s Luke Mossey for a place on the podium, and at the flag O’Halloran crossed the finishing line in third.

The Fireblade rider is thrilled with his first piece of silverware of the season, as it reflects the hard work undertaken by the Louth-based Honda team. At the opening round at Donington Park they struggled to make it into the top ten, but with a rigorous testing schedule behind him O’Halloran was able to make the improvements he needed to gain pace.

O’Halloran started the second race on the front row, and hopes he can be up the sharp end again at the next round at Knockhill. The team will now head to the Scottish track for a one day test, and will also go to Snetterton and maybe Cadwell, before the fourth BSB round of the season.

Both him and his team-mate Dan Linfoot have been getting to grips with the all-new CBR1000RR, and getting used to the new ride-by-wire system which has replaced throttle cables.

“It is a fantastic result and is a breath of fresh air for the whole Honda Racing team. We started the year at Donington struggling with two tenth places and a long way back from the leaders,” said O’Halloran, speaking to bikesportnews.com.

“Today we finished five seconds from the winner and got our first podium. Big leaps forward but it is not easy work. I would prefer it to be more comfortable and be able to conserve the tyre more and be more thoughtful in the race but at the moment it has taken a lot of effort. We are having to push really hard but that is what you have to do.

“To get our first trophy of the year and first podium and fourth and third in both races, and first front row start it has been a fantastic weekend. We have got a couple of tests coming up in the break.

“We have got a few areas with the bike with the throttle connection and the way the power delivery is coming in and we need to work on that. Really big credit to the Honda team and I am really proud of this trophy - three rounds in we are on the box and a few weeks ago we were all pulling our hair out. We will be testing at Knockhill with PBM and at Snetterton and maybe a test at Cadwell. We need to work really hard and keep our place in the top six and keep pushing on.”