Thruxton BSB: Thriller secures O’Halloran Showdown spot

A trio of Yamaha’s put on a spectacular show at Thruxton on Sunday morning as McAMS’ Jason O’Halloran claimed victory in Bennetts British Superbike race two.

O’Halloran took his second Superbike win of the weekend when he came out on top after a thrilling 20-lap battle with teammate Tarran Mackenzie and Rich Energy OMG Yamaha’s Bradley Ray at the flag. It was the two McAMS Yamaha’s that immediately slotted into first and second with O’Halloran leading but Ray had split them by the end of the opening lap with Peter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW), Tom Sykes (MCE Ducati) and Leon Haslam (VisionTrack Kawasaki) completing the top six. Next time around and the top four remained the same but Ray’s teammate Kyle Ryde gained three places at the chicane having overhauled Sykes, Haslam and Glenn Irwin (Honda Racing). A lap later, Ryan Vickers’ race came to an early end as he fell from the FHO Racing BMW at Campbell whilst Josh Brookes had worked his way up to 17th from 26th on the grid on the second MCE Ducati. O’Halloran, Ray and Mackenzie were running nose to tail with Hickman half a second behind and the rest of the field another 1.2s in arrears and on lap six, Ray nosed ahead at the Complex. Haslam also moved up to sixth, at the expense of Sykes, on the same lap. A lap later and O’Halloran was back in front and it was now a four-rider battle for the lead with Hickman having latched onto the back of Mackenzie. The quartet were now some 2.2s clear of the battle for fifth which was now headed by the charging Haslam who, in turn, had opened up a second advantage over the battling Glenn Irwin, Sykes and Ryde, the latter dropping back through the field. There was little to choose between O’Halloran, Ray, Mackenzie and Hickman but the