Can Any Of The British Superbike Riders Put A Halt On Jason O’Halloran’s Perfect Run Of Form?

Round One at Oulton Park was the perfect start for McAMS Yamaha’s Jason O’Halloran, winning all-three races. Jason timed his over taking moves on VisionTrack Ducati’s Christian Iddon by perfection to take the perfect victories! He now leads the championship with maximum points and 15 podium credits in his back pocket. Jason’s team-mate Tarran Mackenzie had a positive start to the season too, Oulton Park is usually one of Tarren’s least favourite tracks, he left the Cheshire circuit with a fifth, sixth and a fourth, leaving the Leicestershire rider in fourth place in the standings with 34 points. Knockhill is Tarran’s home circiut so he will be looking to get a win or two at this weekend’s proceedings.

Christian Iddon made a very positive start to his championship campaign getting on the podium in all three races, with three consecutive second places. Iddon is in second place in the championship standings with 60 points and nine podium credits, not a bad day at the office for the Stockport rider. Reigning 2020 champion Josh Brookes had a very quiet first round finishing tenth, seventh and sixth, he is currently in sixth place in the championship standings.

All-new team FHO Racing BMW had a great start to the 2021 season with Peter Hickman getting a fourth, third and a fifth place in the races and left Oulton Park with a podium credit and 40 championship points. Peter’s all-new team-mate Xavi Forés unfortunately had an off during Free Practice and was unable to take further part in any of the weekend’s proceedings. International Road Racer Brian McCormack completed all three races and is in 24th place in the standings.

Oxford Products Racing Ducati’s Tommy Bridewell had great pace from the off putting his Ducati in Pole position for the first race of the season. Bridewell was straight on the podium for race one getting a third place finish, unfortunately in race two he a mechanical issue due to a slight collision with Mackenzie of which resulted in a chain issue and had to with draw from the race, but for race three he was back on the podium with another third place finish. He is currently in fifth place in the championship, with two podium credits. Tommy will be hoping to get on a higher podium step at Knockhill.

SYNETIQ BMW Motorrad’s Danny Buchan had a steady start with his new team for the 2021 season with a best place finish of fourth in the second race, he now has 25 championship points. Danny has form at the Knockhill circuit so he will be aiming for a Podium finish for sure. Buchan’s all-new team-mate Andrew Irwin didn’t have the best first round suffering two DNF’s and finishing down in 15th place in race two, he is currently in 19th place in the standings with 1 championship point, the Irish rider will be looking for a more positive round at Knockhill.

FS-3 Racing Kawasaki’s Lee Jackson was in the mix in all-three races getting two eighth place finishes and a seventh place in the third race, Lee is in eighth place in the standings with 25 championship points. New rookie Rory Skinner is in 14th place in the standings on 10 points, which is a great start for the young Scottish rider. Knockhill is Rory’s home round so will the young rookie pull something special out of the bag for the Scottish fans this weekend!

Honda’s Glenn Irwin didn’t have the lightening start to the season like he did last season, he left Oulton Park in ninth place in the standings with no podium credits. New rookies Ryo Mizuno and Takumi Takahashi are getting used to racing on British soil so naturally they are down the order in the championship standings. They both had crashes during the races, it’s early days for the Honda rookies, once they get to grips with the circuits they will be getting in the mix with the Superbike riders.

RICH Energy OMG Racing BMW’s Kyle Ryde was at the sharp end throughout the races, but just seemed to lack pace towards the end of the races, he finished in seventh, tenth and 12th place in the races, he is in 10th place in the standings with 19 championship points, Team-mate Brad Ray didn’t have the start he would of wanted suffering two DNF’s and a fifth place finish in the second race, he is in 13th place in the standings.

RAF Regular & Reserve Kawasaki’s Ryan Vickers enjoyed a very positive start to the season, Ryan had a positive pre-season testing and was looking to start his season the same way! He is in 11th place in the standings with 19 points to his name. Ryan brought his Kawasaki machinery home in ninth, 11th and ninth place in the races, a great start for the young Thetford rider.

Builbase Suzuki riders Gino Rea and Danny Kent had a very positive pre-season testing coming into the first round at Oulton Park. Gino finished twice in 11th place and one 13th place, leaving him in 12th place in the standings with 13 championship points. All-new team-mate Danny Kent didn’t finish in Race one and Race three due to crashing and got a 14th place in Race two, leaving him in 15th place with two championship points.

Silicone Engineering Racing Kawasaki’s Dean Harrison had a positive round at Oulton Park finishing in 14th place in race one and in 17th place in race two, Dean unfortunately had a DNf in race three, the Bradford rider is in 16th place in the championship standings with two points.

TAG Honda’s Dan Linfoot was back on the grid having sat out of nearly all of the 2020 British Superbike season. Dan finished all three races finishing with two 18th places and a 15th place, He is in 18th place in the standings with 1 championship point.

All-new Team Powerslide/Catfoss Suzuki had a very positive start to their first season in the championship, established Superbike rider Bjorn Estment finished a very confident first race in 15th place, earning the team a valuable first championship point. In race two he finished in 19th place, in race three Bjorn got in the mix with a few other riders on the first lap and unfortunately crashed out on the first lap, the new team are in 20th place with one championship point.

Iforce Lloyd & Jones BMW’s new signing rookie Brad Jones is in 23rd place in the championship standings, with team-mate Joe Francis in 25th place. Both riders didn’t finish in race one and race two, Brad finished the third race in 16th place but Francis yet again didn’t finish the race. It’s early days for the riders and team, hopefully Knockhill will prove a more productive round for them.

Rapid CDH Racing Kawasaki’s Josh Owens, Team LKQ Euro Car Parts Kawasaki’s Storm Stacey and NP Motorcycles BMW’s Joey Thompson left Oulton Park with no points but I’m sure they will be looking ahead to Knockhill and getting in the mix to gain some valuable championship points.

Featured Images: Knockhill.com, Grid Motorsport Media, Full Factory Superbike Photography, Brad Ray Racing, Kyle Ryde Racing.