BSB Thruxton Race 1 Results | Jason O'Halloran wins after Irwin crash red flag

Jason O’Halloran has moved to within touching distance of Christian Iddon at the head of the 2021 British Superbike Championship standings after notching up his fifth win of the season at Thruxton.

The Australian emphasised his status as one of the title favourites to collect maximum points from pole position, though second place for key rival Christian Iddon keeps the Ducati man ahead by just a single point.

Getting away well at the lights, O’Halloran quickly established a lead he would comfortably retain to the end of a race that would end early under red flags following an accident for Glenn Irwin.

In what was proving to be the strongest showing yet for the Ulsterman and the Honda Racing team, Irwin ran second initially behind O’Halloran before slipping to fourth, but after getting himself back into third position, lost the rear of the CBR1000RR-R at the fearsomely fast Village bend and was flicked off at high-speed.

Fortunately Irwin was able to walk away, despite a long slide on his backside off track, but with his Honda stricken in the middle of the track the decision was made to end the race there.

Behind O’Halloran, Iddon clawed his way back up to second position to retain his spot at the head of the standings, while Peter Hickman landed his second podium of the year with a lively run to third place.

In fourth, Ryan Vickers emerged at the head of an entertaining scrap in the chasing pack, the youngster securing a career-best result in the process, ahead of fellow Kawasaki rider Lee Jackson - who starts race two from pole position - and Suzuki’s Danny Kent who landed his best finish of 2021 in sixth.

Bradley Ray and Gino Rea secured seventh and eighth, while Tarran Mackenzie was demoted to ninth position after a long lap penalty - which he served just before the red flag - was applied as two seconds to his finishing time. Tommy Bridewell rounded out the top ten.

Elsewhere, Josh Brookes’ miserable title defence continued after slipping to the back of the field early on, the Australian only able to get himself back up to 17th come the chequered flag.

2021 British Superbike Championship (BSB) RACE 1 RESULTS | Thruxton