BSB Thruxton Race 1 Results | O’Halloran escapes feuding rivals, extends lead

Jason O’Halloran has extended his lead at the head of the 2022 British Superbike Championship (BSB) standings with a controlled run to victory from pole position in the first race of the weekend at Thruxton.

Extending a rich vein of form that has seen the Australian finish either first or second in each of the last ten races now, his sixth success of the season puts more distance between himself and Bradley Ray at the top of the table to the tune of 19 points.

While O’Halloran was only headed briefly during the initial laps, he was still made to work hard against the elements as scorching weather conditions threw another consideration into proceedings around the already punishing high-speed venue.

Moreover, he wasn’t given any respite from the harassing attentions of Yamaha counterparts Bradley Ray on the OMG R1 and McAMS team-mate Tarran Mackenzie, who shadowed for much of the race.

However, while both would repeatedly swarm over O’Halloran’s rear wheel through the ebb and flow of the bumpy venue, there would be no mistake ahead for them to exploit.

Instead, Ray and Mackenzie would get bogged down in their own private feud, a scrap which - while entertaining - ultimately prevented them from putting sustained pressure on the leader.

Indeed, Mackenzie - having dispatched of Ray coming into the final lap - looked primed to launch a last gasp assault on his team-mate, before a bold lunge through the Complex from Ray checked their momentum and gave O’Halloran the breathing room he needed to take the flag.

Though unable to make that lunge stick through Noble, Ray tried again at the final corner Club Chicane. However, while he was successful in levering Mackenzie aside, a better exit onto the curved home run nosed the Scot back in front by just 0.003s at the flag.

With Yamaha riders filling the podium, you needed to go 3.5secs back to find Irwin coming home a distant fourth, the Honda man just doing enough to resist the attentions of Peter Hickman in fifth. While the FHO rider couldn’t consolidate his front row grid slot despite a bright start, a top five finish keeps him in the hunt for the eight Title Showdown spots, albeit 23 points shy of the in-form Mackenzie.

Lee Jackson led a Kawasaki trio in sixth after prevailing in a battle with FS-3 team-mate Rory Skinner, who finished seventh, and VisionTrack’s Leon Haslam in eighth. 

Tom Sykes landed one of his better results of the year in ninth, the 2013 WorldSBK Champion coming home as the top Ducati rider on an otherwise torrid day for its representatives as Tommy Bridewell laboured to tenth and Josh Brookes - having started 26th - could only reach 20th at the flag.

Ryan Vickers, Christian Iddon, Kyle Ryde, Danny Buchan and Ryo Mizuno completed the points’ paying positions, while Takumi Takahashi - a week on from claiming a famous victory in the Suzuka 8 Hours - could only manage 23rd.

Elsewhere, Tito Rabat’s BSB debut was far from befitting to his status as a Moto2 World Champion, the Spaniard finishing a distant last on the TAG Honda.

Heading up the retirements’ list was the hapless Andrew Irwin who, having qualified on the front row, couldn’t get his Synetiq BMW going on the warm-up lap, while Luke Mossey - in his first race with the iForce BMW team - fell at Club on lap one after running wide onto the ‘green surface’, losing the front and skittling out Chrissy Rouse in the process.

2022 British Superbike Championship (BSB) | Thruxton | Race 1 Results | Round 6 / 12