Jason O’Halloran gave the Bennetts British Superbike grid an absolute masterclass with a sublime treble victory to re-ignite his championship charge at Thruxton.

The Australian rider became Yamaha’s most successful British Superbike rider in history with three imperious victories at the superfast Hampshire venue.

After setting pole position, Saturday’s outing would be the easier of the three as he was able to control the race from the front. Although saving his tyre in the early stages meant he’d start seventh for Race 2. Knowing he couldn’t push early on, O’Halloran sat in eighth for most of the race, letting the riders out front battle away, using their tyres as they did, before launching his attack on Lap 14, passing rider by rider, often with his famous move at the 150mph Church corner.

By the last lap, he was ahead of the pack and cruised to victory in an intelligent fashion. Starting tenth for the final outing, he knew he’d have to do the same again only this time it was even tougher. Still seventh with four laps to go, the ‘O’Show’ pulled off a miracle as he took the lead onto the final lap to complete his third career treble.

The weekend saw O’Halloran take his win tally to 26 races, 25 on the Yamaha R1 which makes him the most successful Yamaha rider in British Superbike history in terms of race wins.

With key championship rivals suffering, O’Halloran has halved his gap to the championship lead, now just 50.5 points off Tommy Bridewell despite entering the weekend 99.5 in arrears, meaning it’s all to play for over the final four rounds.

It was a tough weekend for Tito Rabat, who only scored one race finish with 19th in Race 2.

The championship resumes at Cadwell Park in two weeks’ time.