O'Halloran claims Snetterton race win

Jason O'Halloran recorded his first win of the British Superbike season at Snetterton this weekend.
Jason O'Halloran celebrates his win.Jason O'Halloran celebrates his win.
Jason O'Halloran celebrates his win.

Market Rasen’s two Superbike racers recorded very different results in Norfolk on Sunday.

O’Halloran backed up his victory with a fifth-place finish in the second race.

However, Ryuichi Kiyonari suffered a non-finish in the first affair and was 20th in race two.

O’Halloran was feeling confident throughout free practice, topping the table in the second two sessions.

He went on to easily make it through to the final part of qualifying, which was the first time the new ruling was able to be implemented after poor weather conditions in the previous rounds.

The new format meant that the riders each did one flying lap alone on the track.

It was the first time O’Halloran had taken part in the solo session but he held his nerve and finished the lap in fourth place to start the first race on Sunday from the second row.

He said: “I have never done this Superpole lap before so was a little apprehensive, but it all went well.

“I have a good set up for either wet or dry conditions so I am looking forward to a good set of races on Sunday.”

In the first race on Sunday, O’Halloran led the field around the first lap but was overhauled by his Honda Racing teammate, Dan Linfoot on lap two.

But by lap six he had regained the lead which he held to lap 13 when Linfoot once again took over at the front.

It looked to be a foregone conclusion to the race, but on the final lap Linny made a mistake at the last corner which allowed O’Halloran to nip through and snatch the lead which he held to the chequered flag.

“It’s unbelievable, going into the race we had a good pace so I was pretty confident,” O’Halloran said.

“I knew if I could get to the front group I could stay there and hopefully be there at the end.

“Tyre wear has been a bit of an issue this weekend and I knew I had to conserve the tyre in the middle part of the race.

“My team was giving me good signals so I just hung in there and on that last lap we both made a mistake at the last corner.

“But I was able to get the advantage and cross the line for my first ever win in the series.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling to do a one two for Honda Racing, its great.”

In race two O’Halloran never got away with the two front riders and, after holding fourth place in lap one, he circulated in fifth place throughout the remainder of the race which was red flagged on lap 13 and a result declared.

Kiyonari’s run of bad luck continued.

After completing the sighting lap for race one the team notice a problem with his hard-option rear tyre.

As a result, he was forced to run the softer tyre, but with his GSX-R1000 setup for the harder tyre, he ran out of grip midway through the race.

Circulating outside of the points, he called it a day and retired to work with the team to make changes for race two.

Starting the second race from near the back of the grid, the former champion started strongly, before a mistake saw him run off track, rejoining in last place.

While he was ultimately disappointed to finish outside of the points in 20th place, the team took the positives, with Kiyonari lapping at a pace more comparable with riders well inside the top-10.

The next round will be held at the Thruxton circuit on July 24.

O’Halloran celebrates on the podium, with Dan Linfoot (left) and Shane Byrne.

O’Halloran claims Snetterton race win

Jason O’Halloran recorded his first win of the British Superbike season at Snetterton this weekend.

Market Rasen’s two Superbike racers recorded very different results in Norfolk on Sunday.

O’Halloran backed up his victory with a fifth-place finish in the second race.

However, Ryuichi Kiyonari suffered a non-finish in the first affair and was 20th in race two.

O’Halloran was feeling confident throughout free practice, topping the table in the second two sessions.

He went on to easily make it through to the final part of qualifying, which was the first time the new ruling was able to be implemented after poor weather conditions in the previous rounds.

The new format meant that the riders each did one flying lap alone on the track.

It was the first time O’Halloran had taken part in the solo session but he held his nerve and finished the lap in fourth place to start the first race on Sunday from the second row.

He said: “I have never done this Superpole lap before so was a little apprehensive, but it all went well.

“I have a good set up for either wet or dry conditions so I am looking forward to a good set of races on Sunday.”

In the first race on Sunday, O’Halloran led the field around the first lap but was overhauled by his Honda Racing teammate, Dan Linfoot on lap two.

But by lap six he had regained the lead which he held to lap 13 when Linfoot once again took over at the front.

It looked to be a foregone conclusion to the race, but on the final lap Linny made a mistake at the last corner which allowed O’Halloran to nip through and snatch the lead which he held to the chequered flag.

“It’s unbelievable, going into the race we had a good pace so I was pretty confident,” O’Halloran said.

“I knew if I could get to the front group I could stay there and hopefully be there at the end.

“Tyre wear has been a bit of an issue this weekend and I knew I had to conserve the tyre in the middle part of the race.

“My team was giving me good signals so I just hung in there and on that last lap we both made a mistake at the last corner.

“But I was able to get the advantage and cross the line for my first ever win in the series.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling to do a one two for Honda Racing, its great.”

In race two O’Halloran never got away with the two front riders and, after holding fourth place in lap one, he circulated in fifth place throughout the remainder of the race which was red flagged on lap 13 and a result declared.

Kiyonari’s run of bad luck continued.

After completing the sighting lap for race one the team notice a problem with his hard-option rear tyre.

As a result, he was forced to run the softer tyre, but with his GSX-R1000 setup for the harder tyre, he ran out of grip midway through the race.

Circulating outside of the points, he called it a day and retired to work with the team to make changes for race two.

Starting the second race from near the back of the grid, the former champion started strongly, before a mistake saw him run off track, rejoining in last place.

While he was ultimately disappointed to finish outside of the points in 20th place, the team took the positives, with Kiyonari lapping at a pace more comparable with riders well inside the top-10.

The next round will be held at the Thruxton circuit on July 24.