Jason O’Halloran wins dramatic opening race at Brands

2020 British Superbike Championship Saturday wrap

An incredible opening Bennetts British Superbike Championship race produced the most dramatic action of the 2020 season so far; with all five of the title contenders going all-in to battle for the victory, and it was Jason O’Halloran and McAMS Yamaha who aced the opening round of the weekend.

The lead changed every lap throughout the 16-lap tussle for supremacy in the standings and at the start of the race, Josh Brookes had lead the pack into Paddock Hill Bend for the first time, getting the jump on Glenn Irwin, O’Halloran and Christian Iddon.

Iddon was soon into third, but at the front, Glenn Irwin had captured the lead. The Honda Racing rider though was instantly under fire again from Brookes who regained the position before they crossed the line to start the next lap.

On lap five, Irwin went for another attempt; passing Brookes for the lead, with the VisionTrack Ducati rider nudged into third as Iddon moved ahead into second place.

Two laps later and Iddon became the third different rider to lead the race, but by lap eight, the Honda Racing Fireblade was back in front. Glenn Irwin was then holding the advantage from O’Halloran, Brookes and Iddon, and then the McAMS Yamaha rider was pushing for the lead.

O’Halloran made a decisive move to grab the position at Surtees, becoming the fourth of the five title contenders to lead the race. However, before lap 11 was completed, Iddon had fired the VisionTrack Ducati back ahead of O’Halloran with Glenn Irwin holding third place.

Iddon led the pack until the penultimate lap when he came under attack from a determined O’Halloran, who then made a break on the final two laps to claim his third victory of the season.

Iddon held second to the finish line despite the best efforts of Tarran Mackenzie, who carved his way through his rivals to end the race in third place ahead of Brookes, who had his advantage cut to seven points.

Danny Buchan and Rapid Fulfillment FS-3 Kawasaki completed the top five as he made ground over the final laps, with Glenn Irwin ended the race in sixth place, with his brother Andrew in close contention. Lee Jackson, Tommy Bridewell and Gino Rea completing the top ten.

Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) – P1

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“That race was mental! It felt like it was the last race in the championship – everyone was just going for it! It think there are five of us who can challenge for the title and we all knew that today’s race was one of the most important of the weekend. We knew if Josh won today it would make it more difficult tomorrow and so we were all desperate to get to the front. I felt good but every time I made a pass, I got passed back! Towards the end of the race I managed to make a move on Christian, and then I made it stick and I thought that’s enough, put your head down and try and make a break. It felt so good to win that one.”

Christian Iddon – P2

“That race was insane, there’s no other way to describe it! You were focusing on Christian Iddontrying to find a way by the rider in front of you but whilst you were doing that, two riders would come flying by so there was a lot going on. When Glenn was leading, he was controlling the race but it was perhaps a bit too slow so when I got by him, I tried to push on and edge away which helped and although Jason got the win, second has closed things right up. I’m still trying not to think about the championship but it’s hard to do that when there’s so much going on in a race.”

Josh Brookes – P4

“It was a fantastic race which I’m sure was great to watch but I’m not happy with fourth place. We had a bike which was good enough to win but maybe I took things a bit too cautiously in the early stages. But then again, I could be explaining a different story now and hindsight is a wonderful thing. It just means tomorrow is going to be more exciting for everyone and I must now rider harder and more aggressively, I’ll do whatever is necessary and bring that to the fight tomorrow.”

Glenn Irwin – P6

“On the grid we talked about getting a good start, and I knew I needed one starting from seventh and it was perfect! We got really stuck in and I was comfortable with the pace I was leading at, but I knew others had perhaps more pace in that race. I was trying to defend and be smart, Jason pulled a move and as I was drafting back I had some big turbulence I suppose, with a big moment and dropped back to third. That was the race from there and unfortunately we dropped further. But it’s been a positive, there are areas we know we can work on, and I think if we work on those we can continue to make inroads. Championship wise, for sure we lost points and that’s frustrating, but it was a thoroughly enjoyable race and it was nice to make moves on some people.”

Andrew Irwin – P7

“Today’s race was quite a fun race to be honest, the first ten laps were fast-going and I didn’t really look at the pit board until about three laps from the end. It was nice to be close to the front for a while, but we have just one area we need to improve on and I think if we manage that, then we will hopefully be a bit closer to the front tomorrow. But it was a good race, we’re not too far away and we’ll try and improve for tomorrow’s final two races.”

Race One Results

British Superbike Championship Standings

British Supersport Championship & British GP2 Cup

Tysers Yamaha’s Rory Skinner took his ninth win of the season in the 2020 Quattro Group British Supersport Championship at Brands Hatch, with Ben Currie taking his first podium of the year and Brad Jones third.

It was Ben Currie who made the best start and led after the opening lap, with Skinner and Harry Truelove hounding the leader. By lap three though Skinner had made his way to the front with Truelove, Currie and Jones in hot pursuit.

By half race distance Skinner continued to hold the advantage, forcing Currie and Jones to ride out of their skins to keep up with the Champion. Truelove was pushing to catch the leader, but his machine developed an issue and forced him to retire from the race.

But as the race came to a close, Currie and Jones couldn’t catch Skinner, handing him another victory in 2020 as Currie took his first podium of the season.

Tom Toparis did well in his return form injury to be the ninth Supersport machine home.

Race Results

Championship Standings

British Superstock 1000

OMG Racing’s Billy McConnell topped the final Pirelli National Superstock 1000 qualifying of the season, beating Jordan Weaving by 0.1s. On a damp but drying track, there was a flurry of names at the top of the session early on but Luke Jones held top spot for much of the session.

The closing stages saw a host of fast laps but it was McConnell who was able to top the session ahead of Weaving. Chrissy Rouse secured third ahead of Dan Linfoot, Keith Farmer and Danny Kent.

Qualifying

British Superstock 600

Ben Luxton has taken the 2020 Pirelli National Superstock 600 Championship in style at Brands Hatch, grabbing the victory on the line from TJ Toms and Caolan Irwin.

After the opening lap it was Championship leader Ben Luxton who led the way, with Nixon and Irwin in hot pursuit of the Kawasaki man. But by half race distance Irwin hit the front and led the way ahead of Luxton and TJ Toms.

The battle then hotted up with the front three swapping and changing places until the final lap where Luxton took his fifth victory on the line from Toms and Caolan Irwin, and with that the 2020 title crown.

Race Results

Championship Points

Ducati Performance TriOptions Cup

Levi Day has taken the 2020 Ducati Tri-Options Cup down to the final day with victory over Championship rival Josh Day at Brands Hatch, with Elliot Pinson third.

Josh Day started the race the strongest and grabbed the holeshot from Levi Day and Compton, with Shoubridge and Cox chasing the leaders down, but after the opening lap Josh Day had pulled a 0.8 second gap.

By half race distance Levis Day had closed the gap down to half a second but Championship leader Josh continued to hold the advantage over his closest rival.

But with three laps to go Josh Day’s bike began to develop a problem, however he rode around the issues, holding second with Levi holding the lead until the flag, with Pinson taking third.

Race Results

Championship Standings