British Superbikes, Donington Park: O’Halloran - ”didn’t want to be making my move on the last lap!”

Jason O’Halloran made the switch from McAMS Yamaha to Completely Motorbikes Kawasaki and in the aftermath of his win, he was quick to point out that their success hasn’t been instant and has very much been a team effort:

“The whole team’s been working really hard since I joined, we’ve all been working hard just to make the adaptation to the Kawasaki and to get comfortable on it . Nothing has been a problem - everything I’ve asked for I’ve got and if we haven’t been able to have it, we figured out a way to get it soon after. I can’t knock any of the guys that put a massive effort in.

I felt good on the bike for a little while now, it’s just our starting position hasn’t been great”.

• 2024 British Superbikes: Donington Park - Race Results (3)
• British Superbike Championship delivers medical update after Ryan Vickers’ crash

That was hurt in Donington by O’Halloran being penalised in Superpole, his lap cancelled for exceeding track limits leaving him down the grid with a mountain to climb.

The situation was not helped by both of the Completely Motorbikes machines having the same issue at the same time in the sprint, undoing a lot of the hard work.

Starting fourth as the Australian was running fast and making overtakes before the DNF in the sprint, meant O’Halloran finally had a shot at running at the front in race three:

“It’s made it a little bit tricky to get away with the front guys, my pace has always been strong - I just haven’t been able to get away with them. The first race today - the sprint race - was the first time that I felt like I was properly, you know, in the race.

But unfortunately we had a little technical and then the guys put in a big shift and changed the engine, basically a brand new bike for the race”.

The changes worked and O’Halloran was soon in contention. When the window of opportunity came O'Halloran went for it and pulled away as his rivals scrapped it out to the line for the remaining podium places, with Glenn Irwin missing out.

‘The O’ Show’ was happy he made his break before the final lap:

“I didn’t want to be making my move on the last lap because I knew it was going to be a bit scrappy. I knew I had plus zero on the board, so I knew there was four of us as well and I didn’t want to miss out on the podium

I knew where I was fast on track, I knew where I could make a clean pass and I just had to get close enough to do it.

I got close enough with a lap to go, when I see the last lap, I just put my head down and just tried to hit every apex, didn’t make any mistakes, and I just hoped the boys behind me were going to have a bit of a tussle for it.”

As they tussled O’Halloran was crossing the line for his first Kawasaki win:

“To go out and win is incredible so, the third manufacturer I’ve won with now, so that’s a bit of a tick. Really nice to get up here and win for the team - they haven’t won in a couple of years so hopefully the first of many”.