McAMS Yamaha left the 2019 Bennetts British Superbike season on a positive note after a solid race day at Brands Hatch saw Tarran Mackenzie secure his best results since breaking his wrist at Thruxton.
Starting fifth and sixth on the grid for the second race of the weekend, the McAMS Yamaha duo suffered mixed fortunes at the start with Jason O’Halloran shooting off the line to join the leading group. Mackenzie got a bit beat up in the opening stages and sat eighth at the end of the opening lap.
As the three Ducatis pulled a gap, O’Halloran settled into fifth position, but Mackenzie was on the move. Charging through, he’d then catch fourth-placed Christian Iddon to take his best result since Snetterton earlier in the year. Fading towards the end, O’Halloran took seventh.
Race two would be a more difficult affair after a step in the wrong direction meant Mackenzie would struggle to match his race one pace, but always the fighter, the 23-year-old fought through to take a top six finish ahead of team-mate O’Halloran in seventh. Matt Truelove finished the day’s races in 20th and 21st place.
The weekend marks the conclusion of what has been a year of highs and lows with Mackenzie rounding out the championship in fifth overall, while after missing the showdown, O’Halloran completed the top ten in the standings.
Tarran Mackenzie
Race 2: 4th Race 2: 6th Championship: 5th
“The first race today was really good, I felt like I was back to how I’ve been during the year. The feeling with the bike I had allowed me to ride it how I wanted to ride it, it gave me good feedback and good confidence during the race. I was happy with that, but for race two we made a change that I wanted to make, it could have gone either way, I thought it’d make it better but it didn’t and I didn’t have a very strong end to the race! It wasn’t the greatest result but I’m happy. I’d have taken a fourth and a sixth coming into this weekend as it’s a good way to end what’s been a tough season!”
Jason O’Halloran
Race 1: 7th Race 2: 7th Championship: 10th
“Today hasn’t been bad, we kept the bike on two wheels and suffered no more injuries.. The best thing about today is we learned a lot, every time I rode the bike this weekend it was different as we used it as a bit of a test to get as much information as possible before the off-season. I’m happy to finish the season with three top tens. I’m looking forward to heading into the off season and getting myself fixed up and fit again. This year I think it’s fair to say we haven’t maximised our potential, which is disappointing but it’s promising for 2020.”
Matt Truelove
Race 1: 21st Race 2: 20th
“Well that’s the end of my first season in superbikes. I think there have been positives to take from the year, I’ve learned a lot. I’m not too happy with where I finished today compared to yesterday but it is what it is. We’ll come back next year and build on our experience.”
Steve Rodgers
Team Owner
“I think we can say we ended the season on a high. I think we saw Taz gain a lot of confidence again in race one, which has been missing for the last few rounds since he broke his wrist. They went the wrong way for race two but these things happen, we didn’t have much to lose and they wanted to try something. We’ve seen how much potential he has, he’s only 23-years-old and in his second year in superbike, so this year has definitely been a learning experience – hopefully we can build on that next year. Jason has spent much of the season injured, which is a shame as we know what he is capable of and we’ve seen it at times this year – Silverstone and Assen in particular. The plan is for him to get fit over the winter and then come back stronger next year. I’d like to extend a huge thanks to all our sponsors, partners and fans for their support this year – without them this job would not be possible.”
Bennetts British Superbike, Brands Hatch – Race 2
| POS | RIDER | TEAM | LAPS | TIME | GAP | DIFF | BEST |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Josh BROOKES | Be Wiser Ducati | 20 | 28:47.221 | – | – | 1:25.890 |
| 2 | Scott REDDING | Be Wiser Ducati | 20 | 28:47.340 | 0.119 | 0.119 | 1:25.771 |
| 3 | Tommy BRIDEWELL | Oxford Ducati | 20 | 28:48.017 | 0.796 | 0.677 | 1:25.700 |
| 4 | Tarran MACKENZIE | McAMS Yamaha | 20 | 28:54.461 | 7.240 | 6.444 | 1:26.089 |
| 5 | Christian IDDON | Tyco BMW | 20 | 28:55.457 | 8.236 | 0.996 | 1:26.041 |
| 6 | Danny BUCHAN | FS-3 Kawasaki | 20 | 28:55.974 | 8.753 | 0.517 | 1:26.107 |
| 7 | Jason O’HALLORAN | McAMS Yamaha | 20 | 28:56.992 | 9.771 | 1.018 | 1:26.128 |
| 8 | Peter HICKMAN | Smiths BMW | 20 | 28:59.699 | 12.478 | 2.707 | 1:26.213 |
| 9 | Andrew IRWIN | Honda Racing | 20 | 29:05.467 | 18.246 | 5.768 | 1:26.292 |
| 10 | Taylor MACKENZIE | Tyco BMW | 20 | 29:08.083 | 20.862 | 2.616 | 1:26.555 |
Bennetts British Superbike, Brands Hatch – Race 3
| POS | RIDER | TEAM | LAPS | TIME | GAP | DIFF | BEST |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Josh BROOKES | Be Wiser Ducati | 20 | 28:42.489 | – | – | 1:25.724 |
| 2 | Tommy BRIDEWELL | Oxford Ducati | 20 | 28:42.712 | 0.223 | 0.223 | 1:25.665 |
| 3 | Scott REDDING | Be Wiser Ducati | 20 | 28:54.846 | 12.357 | 12.134 | 1:25.591 |
| 4 | Christian IDDON | Tyco BMW | 20 | 28:57.184 | 14.695 | 2.338 | 1:25.869 |
| 5 | Peter HICKMAN | Smiths BMW | 20 | 29:00.441 | 17.952 | 3.257 | 1:26.196 |
| 6 | Tarran MACKENZIE | McAMS Yamaha | 20 | 29:00.727 | 18.238 | 0.286 | 1:26.224 |
| 7 | Jason O’HALLORAN | McAMS Yamaha | 20 | 29:00.933 | 18.444 | 0.206 | 1:26.241 |
| 8 | Danny BUCHAN | FS-3 Kawasaki | 20 | 29:03.384 | 20.895 | 2.451 | 1:26.325 |
| 9 | Andrew IRWIN | Honda Racing | 20 | 29:05.770 | 23.281 | 2.386 | 1:26.513 |
| 10 | Dan LINFOOT | TAG Yamaha | 20 | 29:05.928 | 23.439 | 0.158 | 1:26.504 |
2020 Bennetts British Superbike Championship Standings
| POS | RIDER | TEAM | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scott Redding | Be Wiser Ducati | 697 |
| 2. | Josh Brookes | Be Wiser Ducati | 692 |
| 3. | Tommy Bridewell | Oxford Racing Ducati | 636 |
| 4. | Danny Buchan | FS-3 Kawasaki | 588 |
| 5. | Tarran Mackenzie | McAMS Yamaha | 566 |
| 6. | Peter Hickman | Smiths Racing | 558 |
| 7. | Christian Iddon | Tyco BMW | 203 |
| 8. | Andrew Irwin | Honda Racing | 202 |
| 9. | Xavi Fores | Honda Racing | 199 |
| 10. | Jason O’Halloran | McAMS Yamaha | 195 |