Jason O’Halloran says that he is heading into the unknown this weekend due to the physical nature of the Cadwell Park circuit.
O’Halloran is continuing his comeback from an ankle injury sustained while on stand-in duty for the factory Honda squad in the World Superbike Championship in May.
In the last round, the Honda Racing rider left Thruxton with his biggest points haul of the season, with two six-place finishes.
Despite making plenty of progress, O’Halloran is still unsure on how well he’ll be able to perform this weekend due to the physical nature of the Lincolnshire track. Speaking ahead of race meeting, he said:
“Thruxton overall was good for us and it showed the progress since the injury, but Cadwell Park is still a bit of an unknown given how physical it is, especially with the Mountain. I had a little spin there the other evening to test the ankle and we seemed OK, so we just need to take the weekend how it comes and see how we get on. The aim previously has always been podiums or wins, or at least a top-five and with the Showdown getting closer, we need to do everything to score the best we can.
“At Thruxton we proved that I haven’t lost the speed, it was just that the injury had been making it difficult and if you look at race one I was third into the Chicane and fighting with the lead group; I was pushed wide which cost me the podium. That shows what a massive step forward it has been since Brands Hatch just two weeks’ ago, so I am happy with the injury progress although you always want it to be faster! The team has been working really hard so we are going to be fighting back as hard as we can this weekend.”
Cadwell Park is the penultimate round before the Showdown-six are decided, with O’Halloran currently 25 points behind the top six in the championship. The circuit is a home round for the team, with Honda Racing based seven miles down the road in Louth.
Track action for the eighth round of the 2018 Bennetts British Superbike Championship gets underway on Friday (17 August) with first practice taking place at 10:15-11:00.
