Oulton Park bank holiday BSB
‘We’re at the sharp end now. There’s only one more step’
Jason O’Halloran showed the Honda Fireblade’s potential with a strong weekend at Oulton Park as he pushed Leon Haslam all the way in both races.
The Aussie led seven laps of the scorching second race and remained hot on Haslam’s tail, pushing the Kawasaki man hard as he upped the pace. The duo were matched on lap time lap after lap, but O’Halloran struggled to find a way past in the closing stages.
The second place marks Honda’s third rostrum in as many meetings as the Louth-based squad continue to prove that the Blade is now a frontrunning BSB machine.
“I’ve known we could fight at the front this season since our test at Jerez at the end of last year,” O’Halloran said. “I knew from the package we had there that things were going to get better and we could regularly fight at the front. “We’re not completely there yet as pre-season testing was hit with poor weather and the first couple of rounds were also a bit all over the place weather-wise so we haven’t been able to gain the momentum I wanted to start the year with. But we are only going to get stronger.”
And while finishing 0.086 seconds off the win is a good result, O’Halloran knows there are further improvements to come from himself and the bike. “What makes this result better is I know we didn’t get the most out of the bike in qualifying as I changed a few things in my riding [he started using a more prominent leg dangle] and it upset the bike a bit. We improved that for the races and I’m sure we can improve it further too.
“We’re coming into a part of the year which is pretty good for us. Snetterton has always been a good track for me, so the plan is to go there and try to win. We’re at the sharp end now. There’s only one more step to achieve.”