British Superbikes: O’Halloran encouraged by Spanish testing

The Australian spent five days on track with the new YZF-R1, posting competitive times on the new machine on both Monteblanco and Jerez circuits.

O’Halloran is starting his second year with the McAMS Yamaha team and, alongside his team-mate Tarran Mackenzie, was making his debut on the 2020 YZF-R1.

Trying out the new bike last Wednesday the Aussie topped the timesheets on the opening day.

And with a completely new engine, bodywork and redesigned air box and throttle, there were plenty of changes to get his head around while working through a rigorous programme during the three-day test.

He then moved on to Jerez where he ended the test in 10th place, although he had been set to improve on that when a red flag brought the final session to a close.

“It has been a really good test and I feel comfortable on the bike,” O’Halloran said.

“Monteblanco was great and then we came here (Jerez) and it took a while to find the same feeling, but we got there in the end.

“I spent the last afternoon working on myself, changing what I am doing and seeing what works and what doesn’t.

“I became quite comfortable with something pretty much immediately which seemed quite odd when I first started doing it.

“You never usually get the chance to do stuff like that at a race weekend so it was nice.”

Confident he has found a direction with the new bike, O’Halloran now heads back to the UK for final preparations to the R1 before the official British Superbike test at Silverstone on April 2.

The opening round of the championship gets under way at the Northamptonshire circuit over the Easter weekend.

“It has been a positive week; I am really enjoying the new bike and can’t wait to see what it’s like at Silverstone,” he added.