Jason O’Halloran had a brilliant weekend in Norfolk as he took his first-ever MCE British Superbike victory at Snetterton.
The Australian enjoyed a race-long battle with his Honda Racing teammate Dan Linfoot, with the pair controlling the majority of race one.
The duo traded places throughout a tense race and it was still all the play for as they started the final lap. Linfoot started had led the final few laps and it looked like he was about to take victory with just a few corners left.
A big slide coming into the final corner cost him time though and O’Halloran was there to take advantage and crossed the line in first place.
Looking back at his win, O’Halloran said: “Well I took my first Superbike win today and it’s Honda’s first 1-2 for a long time so it’s fantastic to do it like that and to battle with Dan was really enjoyable. The racing was clean and straightforward and I really enjoyed it – to come across the line first I still can’t believe it.
“Coming into today’s races I knew that we had pace to fight for a podium, but for the win was unbelievable.”
O’Halloran started race two from second on the grid but he was unable to pull away with Shane Byrne and Linfoot this rime round. Instead he was caught in a three-way battle for third for the majority of the race, alongside Michael Laverty and Leon Haslam.
The three riders swapped places on a number of occasions but O’Halloran found himself down in fifth as the red flags were brought out following Jenny Tinmouth’s crash.
On race two, O’Halloran said: “Race two was a little frustrating and I am a little disappointed after the high of race one, but there are no excuses really, the CBR was good and I felt like I had decent pace. I was passed early on and then I just struggled to get back past Laverty and Haslam, which hampered my race a little.
“It was frustrating to finish the race with three laps to go, as I felt like I could have fought for the last place on the podium, but it was the right move from the organisers. But it’s been a good weekend and our biggest points haul this year, my first win and Dan’s had two podiums so all in all a fantastic weekend for the team.”
O’Halloran now finds himself third in the championship, 40 points behind new leader Byrne and five points ahead of Linfoot.
The Honda Racing team heads to Thruxton next for round six of the championship, on the weekend beginning July 22.
