BSB: O’Halloran re-claims title lead with hat-trick at Thruxton

Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) bagged a Thruxton hat-trick in dominant fashion. The Australian won all three races comfortably, but the positions behind him were fiercely contested in a thrilling meeting.

Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati), Peter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW), Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha), Glenn Irwin (Honda Racing), Danny Buchan (SYNETIQ BMW Motorrad) and Danny Kent (Buildbase Suzuki) all secured podium finishes. Ryan Vickers (RAF Regulars & Reserves Kawasaki) and Bradley Ray (RICH Energy OMG Racing BMW) too showed great pace but missed out on the rostrum.

O’Halloran clinched the championship lead back and holds 42 points over Iddon. A DNF in Race 2 proved costly for the Ducati rider, but he still has a 17 points advantage over Mackenzie in third.

RACE 1

O’Halloran held on to the lead from pole followed by Irwin and Hickman. The safety car came out on the opening lap following an incident involving Kyle Ryde (RICH Energy OMG Racing BMW) and Joe Francis. Both riders were alright, but the safety barriers needed to be repaired.

The safety car came in at the end of Lap 3 and Hickman slotted into second. As the top duo started to pull away, Iddon punched his way past Irwin to reel them back in. The Ducati rider could not shake off his Honda opponent and halfway through the race, the gap to the front was still half a second.

A frantic battle raved from fifth to ninth between Ray, Lee Jackson (FS-3 Racing Kawasaki), Vickers and Kent. As the quartet kept scrapping, Iddon and Irwin managed to stay comfortably clear.

Out front, O’Halloran had put breathing space between himself and Hickman at two thirds distance. The gap kept increasing and the Australian eventually took victory by almost two and a half second.

Hickman fell into the clutches of Iddon who had his tyre management spot on. The championship contender overtook with ease on Lap 12 but his title rival was too far ahead. Irwin too capitalised on Hickman’s fading pace and slotted into a podium spot.

However, Irwin’s rostrum ambitions came to an abrupt end on the penultimate lap when his Honda highsided. The Irishman mercifully was unhurt but his bike was left stranded on the track and terminated the race with a red flag.

RACE 2

O’Halloran had a dream start from the middle of the front row and led into T1. The Australian was under immediate pressure from Irwin while polesitter Jackson slotted into third. Iddon picked his way up to order and was running fourth at the end of Lap 1.

Iddon’s hunt was interrupted on Lap 3 when Vickers dived down the inside through the Club chicane. Slight contact forced them wide and although both riders re-joined the track, the gap to O’Halloran and Irwin had increased.

Vickers was the fastest rider on track and moved past Jackson on Lap 5 going through Club. He trailed the front duo by more than one and a half seconds, leaving him with a mountain to climb. Vickers was denied a fighting chance though when he was awarded a long-lap penalty for the Lap 3 incident.

Iddon inherited P3 but was shadowed by Jackson and Mackenzie. The situation changed on Lap 10 when both Iddon and Jackson went down at Campbell. Consequentially, O’Halloran and Irwin had escaped into the distance while Mackenzie, Vickers and Ray battled it out for third at halfway distance.

Irwin lost touch to O’Halloran and fell into the clutches of the chasing trio. By Lap 17, the Honda rider had been reeled in. Punches were exchanged and Mackenzie led the pack onto the final lap.

The McAMS Yamaha rider gained some breathing space to make it a 1-2 behind his teammate. Irwin just held Ray behind him while Vickers’s race ended in a crash halfway through the lap.

RACE 3

Tyre choices were made difficult by a wet track but an uncertain weather forecast. Most riders opted for a wet front with a variety of wet and intermediate rear tyres on the grid.

O’Halloran stayed in the lead from pole, but dropped positions to Hickman, Mackenzie and Jackson on the opening lap. Hickman and Mackenzie on full wet pulled away from the pack while O’Halloran led a train of riders behind them.

From Lap 6, the intermediate rear tyre option become the faster one. O’Halloran and Buchan relentlessly closed in on the front duo and started to beat them for positions on Lap 8. Mackenzie lost touch, but Hickman looked determined and kept them behind with late braking.

O’Halloran finally claimed the lead going through Campbell on Lap 9 and immediately opened a gap. Buchan punched his way past Hickman to chase the Australian back down and the pair comfortably led at halfway distance.

Kent found great rhythm and made his way up into third. Vickers too was on the move and beat first Hickman then Mackenzie for P4.

Vickers was the fastest rider on track and catching Kent. The former Moto3 champions himself was reducing the gap to Buchan ahead who was pushing hard to stay with O’Halloran.

O’Halloran started to stretch away from Buchan and went into the final lap with a one second advantage. The championship leader made no mistake and brought a Thruxton treble over the line. Kent had closed in on Buchan, but the gap was too big in the end.