Jason O’Halloran put himself right back into British Superbike Championship contention at Donington Park at the weekend, his two wins and a second not only showing the form he’d had for the majority of 2021 but also helping him jump up to second overall in the title standings.
The wins and podiums were his first of the season and allowed the McAMS Yamaha rider to close to within 28 points of the pace-setting Bradley Ray. Pole position, the quickest ever on the Donington National circuit, and second place behind Kyle Ryde on Saturday got his weekend off to a good start and he was able to put into practice what he’d learnt there on Sunday.
“Saturday was a really, really good day for us with pole position, second in the race and a new lap record,” he said. “I got onto Kyle with a lap to go and wanted to try and win but we just missed out. I had great pace at the end of the race and felt Sunday’s longer races would suit me more as some of the other riders seemed to drop off a bit in the closing laps.”
That’s exactly how it panned out with O’Halloran biding his time before making his move; and when he did, he was able to edge away from his rivals. He had to work a bit harder in the final race of the weekend, having started from second row of the grid, but once past Ray, he always looked the more likely winner.
“It felt amazing to win my first race of the season but we’ve been working really hard at the first two rounds and that work is now paying dividends. When you are working through things and testing things when you are racing it’s never easy but this weekend things have really started to come together.
“They were two long races on Sunday and the Donington National circuit’s very physical, it’s hard on the body and hard on the tyres so it was important to manage each race.
"Today was probably the best I’ve ever felt on this bike, the way I could come through the pack, get to the front and pull away everything just worked.
“I had a good game plan and once I settled into the races, I knew I could be stronger at the end so I saved my tyre as much as possible in the early part of the race and managed the race accordingly.”
