Jason O’Halloran stormed to a sensational Scottish double at Knockhill on Sunday, taking two commanding victories on his McAMS Yamaha R1.

The Australian had never won at the circuit before, but a strong second place on Saturday set him up for an even better Sunday. Starting fourth on the grid, O’Halloran sat third in the early stages but looked comfortable. A safety car intervention neutralised the race around mid-distance, and when racing resumed O’Halloran looked ready to pounce. A brave move into the Hairpin saw him take second, before moving into the lead a couple of laps later, holding the gap at around 0.7 seconds to take his first Knockhill win.

It was a strong second race for Tarran Mackenzie too, having missed Saturday’s opener, the reigning champion had to start from 29th on the grid but a barnstorming performance saw him break into the top ten by the end of the race.

O’Halloran had earned himself a front row start for the final race of the weekend and he didn’t let it go to waste. He again settled into third in the early stages and when Rory Skinner crashed out of the lead, he sat on the tail of Brad Ray’s R1 for two third of the race looking comfortable, before pouncing at the hairpin with five laps to go and pulling a 0.9 second lead to take his second successive double win.

Starting tenth on the grid, Mackenzie dropped back to 12th in the early stages as he struggled with grip, but a sudden improvement saw him fight through the field to a strong eighth place to take more valuable points as he looks to recover from missing the opening two rounds.

O’Halloran’s Scottish success sees him close the gap in the championship to just 16 points, while in the all-important podium points he is just four behind Ray. Mackenzie now sits 15th in the standings 45 points off a spot in the Showdown top eight.

The 2022 Bennetts British Superbike Championship resumes at Brands Hatch on 22-24 July.