Honda Racing’s Jason O’Halloran made his return to the podium today at Oulton Park, after claiming third place in the second race of the day. 

Aboard the all-new Fireblade The O’Show enjoyed a solid day at the Cheshire circuit for the third round of the MCE British Superbike Championship.

Race one saw the Aussie start seventh on the grid and it wasn’t long until he was making his way through the pack. By lap 12 he was chasing down fifth place and then onto fourth. With fourth place in sight, O’Halloran put in a brave last corner move and crossed the line taking the fourth place spot.

Claiming the second fastest lap in race one the Honda-man started the second race from the front row of the grid and with a clear track ahead; the stage was set for 18-laps. A good start off the line saw the Aussie holding strong within the front group, but a closing pack behind meant O’Halloran had to dig deep to protect his position. 

With strong pace aboard the Fireblade an incident in the leading group moved the 29-year old up the pack, which meant a podium place was on the horizon. Keeping his cool and protecting the third place spot, O’Halloran crossed the line taking his first podium in 2017 and moving him into sixth place in the championship standings. 

Meanwhile for team-mate Dan Linfoot, it was a tough weekend as the Yorkshireman continued to struggle with feeling aboard his Fireblade, and leaves Oulton Park with two 16th places. In the final outing of the day Linfoot had made his way through to tenth place, but suffered a highside mid-race. 

Thankfully managing to stay aboard his Fireblade and rejoining the group in 20th, Linfoot did all he could to push through and salvage any places possible. Eventually crossing the line in 16th, he leaves round three with no championship points and sits 11th overall in the standings. 

The MCE British Superbike Championship now has a break in its season with round four taking place at Knockhill in Scotland on 16-18 June. The Honda Racing team will now head back to its Louth-base to regroup and get prepared for the next round.

Click here to view the race one result and here for race two. 

Jason O’Halloran #22: 

Well this weekend has been the best weekend so far for us with the fourth and third places, and a front row start! I am so pleased to be back on the podium, I had to fight really hard at the end of the race with Irwin and Iddon so to be on that podium felt good! We made a few small changes with the Fireblade from race one to race two, and I think it was initially better in the opening part of the race. I managed to get to the front, started to push and the tyre got away from me quicker than in the first race, and I just had to manage to the end. It was difficult as I was fighting with a few guys and I knew from my pit board there was another group behind, so I had to make sure I could protect my position. Oulton is a tough circuit but I’m so chuffed to be on the podium. I want to say a massive thanks to Honda and the Honda Racing team – everyone has been working so hard with the new bike and to come from Donington just a few weeks ago to now be stood on the podium is a huge credit to the whole team.


Dan Linfoot #4: 

Honestly all weekend we have struggled and I have felt like I’ve not been able to ride how I previously have here, we’ve been upside down, inside out and all over the place. We have tried to search and find the best setting, but still the stability issue for me remains. The result in the last race wasn’t a reflection of where I was running, as I was strong and in the top-ten, but had a highside and ran off into the gravel losing a lot of places and had to rejoin in 20th. I’m obviously massively disappointed leaving here with no points, but Knockhill is up next and I had two solid races and two podiums there last year, so we now have to regroup, get back on it and join Jason at the sharp end! Well done to Jason and his crew on their podium finish, it won’t be long and we’ll be up there too!


Havier Beltran, team manager: 

Well we’ve had vast improvements this weekend and I am ecstatic for Jason progressing the way he has, what a fantastic result and a great performance from him in both races. Jason was with the front group throughout and I am very impressed with his results today. A huge well done to his team also, they have worked so hard to get to this point and I am very happy for Paul, Andy and Scott. However, I am upset for Dan, as I know he has more potential than the results he’s had this weekend. He’s not happy with the feeling and he doesn’t have the confidence to push like Jason has been able to, but I am confident we can turn that around and believe we can iron out the issues and get back on track. Every outing we are learning something new with the Fireblade and it is only a matter of time before we are pushing for podiums, and Jason today has proved just that!