Who’ll win?

MCN’S Josh Close has the inside line…

» Everywhere you look in BSB there’s an intriguing storyline, a fierce rivalry, and riders capable of winning races. Firstly, there’s defending champion Tarran Mackenzie and MCAMS Yamaha teammate Jason O’halloran, who dominated me, they are the benchmark and will be tough to beat. Mackenzie wants a Worldsbk ride, while O’halloran is gunning for revenge after being cruelly denied by the Showdown. Surely Josh Brookes won’t have another tough year. A rider of his calibre won’t let that happen and on his day he is unstoppable. Tommy Bridewell will be a threat, while I cannot ignore the likes of 2021 race winners Danny Buchan and Christian Iddon. The latter is out to prove a point on his Suzuki following a shock PBM departure. I’m looking forward to that one! The Irwin brothers will be keen to return to their 2020 form and Peter Hickman will be pushing for more wins. The storyline that I cannot wait to see unravel, however, is the return of Leon Haslam and Tom Sykes. Haslam is on his beloved Kawasaki, so I expect him to be up to speed in no time. Sykes left BSB at the end of 2008 and hasn’t raced a Ducati before, but I don’t see him taking too much time to get going. He’s a world champion after all. Bradley Ray is my dark horse now he’s on a Yamaha, but if I had to place my bets

I’d name O’halloran as my title favourite… Just!