Jason O’Halloran returned to the sharp end in a thrilling opening Bennetts British Superbike race at Donington Park, narrowly missing out on a first victory of the season as Yamaha took their first ever podium lockout.

Having shown pace all weekend, the Aussie set the quickest ever two-wheeled lap of Donington Park in FP3 before going even quicker in Qualifying with a 1’05.289 to take pole position for the opening race.

From pole he got a strong start to lead the early stages, but the OMG Racing Yamahas and FS3 Racing Kawasakis put up a fight. Dropping back to fourth at one stage, O’Halloran kept his cool, fighting off attacks from behind before moving through and setting chase after the two OMG bikes, who had pulled a slight gap.

Setting a new lap record as he charged towards his fellow Yamaha riders, O’Halloran reeled them in with three to go, making his move on series leader Bradley Ray instantly. Just half a second then sat between him and race leader Kyle Ryde and with another lap record on the penultimate lap, he sat on the rear of the leading R1 on the final lap. Attempting a move at the Old Hairpin, he couldn’t quite make it stick leaving only the last corner to make an attack. Lunging up the inside, he made it through but lost drive onto the main straight allowing Ryde to nick the win by 0.038 seconds.

O’Halloran joined race winner Kyle Ryde and Bradley Ray (third) on a historic podium for Yamaha Racing as they locked out the rostrum with the R1 taking first, second and third places. The Aussie’s lap record will see him start the second race from pole position.

Reigning champion Tarran Mackenzie lined up on the grid for his first Bennetts BSB race since he took the crown at Brands Hatch last October. Still held back by the injured ankle and struggling with arm-pump after not riding for so long, Mackenzie impressed as he progressed from Q1 to Q2, which would have been impressive in itself until the Scotsman set his fastest ever lap of Donington National to qualify an incredible eighth place.

Starting well but keen to stay out of trouble, Mackenzie set about the race action in a cool and collected way, bringing it home in a strong tenth place to open his 2022 account with valuable points.

There was cause for celebration in the Pirelli National Superstock Championship too as Tim Neave took a strong second place despite a red flag intervention making things a little trickier than he had hoped. In the first ten laps of the 20 lap race, Neave sat a strong second and was looking to make a move on race leader Davey Todd in the second half when the red flags came out. An eight lap sprint would restart shortly after and Neave was a little beaten up in the opening stages, dropping back to fifth. Remaining calm, it took a few laps to break through to fourth but when he did he wasted no time, moving up to second and then making an attack for the win on the final lap. Unfortunately, in a move later mirrored by team-mate O’Halloran, Neave would gain the lead at the chicane on the final lap before being dragged to the line by his rival. Nonetheless, he maintains his championship lead and is feeling confident for tomorrow.