The Norfolk circuit hosts rounds three, four and five of the revised 2020 series and the Fleetwood-based official Yamaha team are feeling confident ahead of the next three races after Jason O’Halloran’s front-running pace at Donington Park last weekend.

O’Halloran topped every practice session and stormed to pole position before taking two podiums in race action, but both the Aussie and the team were left hungry for more despite the strong start to the year.

Snetterton has been a strong venue for O’Halloran in the past as the scene of his first British Superbike victory back in 2016. Confident the revisions to the 2020 YZF-R1 will suit the fast, flowing nature of the track, the 32-year-old is hoping he can repeat or better his podium performance from Donington Park.

The opening round proved slightly tougher for Tarran Mackenzie, who took two sevenths and a sixth as his side of the garage was slightly thrown by just how different the new, bigger Pirelli tyres, made the bike feel. Having to move away from the set-up that saw him run at the front in 2019, Mackenzie found an improved feeling with the R1 towards the end of the weekend and is confident he can hit the ground running this weekend.

While the results weren’t spectacular, they marked a solid points haul for Mackenzie who sits sixth in the overall standings heading into this weekend’s trio of races at a circuit where he finished on the podium in 2019.

2020 BRITISH SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP – ROUNDS 4/5/6 SNETTERTON

Friday 21st August

15:10 – 15:55 – Free Practice 1

Saturday 22nd August

10:10 – 10:55 – Free Practice 2
13:20 – 13:45 – Datatag Extreme Qualifying
16:15 – Race 1 (14 laps)

Sunday 23rd August

09:45 – 09:55 – Warm Up
13:30 – Race 2 (16 laps)
16:30 – Race 3 (16 laps)

Jason O'Halloran - Championship Position: 4th (40 points)

“Last year I had to wait until Round 10 to stand on the podium so to take two thirds at Donington was a good start to the year. I was disappointed not to stand on the top step because it was definitely in reach, but compared to the opening round last year – I am happy to be looking at a podium finish and knowing we can do better. The package we have this year is 100% capable of fighting for wins, so we need to head into the next few rounds with that in our minds. Snetterton didn’t go our way last year but by the end of the weekend I felt really good on the bike so I’m looking forward to this weekend!”

Tarran Mackenzie - Championship Position: 6th (28 points)

“I went in to Donington feeling quite confident, the bike worked well there last year and while we have a new R1 for 2020 the chassis is very similar so we didn’t want to move away from the set-up we used to fight at the front on the national track in 2019. Unfortunately, the new tyre threw us a bit of a curveball as it made a lot more difference than we thought it was going to so that set-up didn’t work and we had to come up with a new plan. Two sevenths and a sixth isn’t what I go racing for, but every point counts this year and we learned a lot, so we can take that to Snetterton this weekend and build on it. It’s another track where I fought at the front last year and finished on the podium and we should be able to hit the ground running with what we learned about the bike last time out.”

Steve Rodgers - Team Principal

“Even with a weekend off in between each race, they are coming thick and fast now and the lads in the workshop have been flat out since Donington to get ready for this weekend.

“We had a strong start to the season with podiums for Jason and decent points for Taz, but we know both the bike and the riders are capable of even more so that’s exciting. While the season is shorter, there is a long way to go and it’s important to keep up momentum, keep finishing in decent positions and building our tally of points as every point counts in 2020 with no Showdown format.

“Snetterton has been good to us in the past, Taz was fighting at the front there last year and while 2019 didn’t go to plan for Jason, it’s a circuit he’s won at previously so as with every weekend this year – the podium is the goal.”