Oxford TAG Triumph rider Jason O'Halloran secured a fantastic tenth place finish in the second round of the Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport race at Thruxton Circuit today, 18th April. O'Halloran, who was involved in a massive crash during first qualifying on Saturday morning, causing the session to be red flagged as his Triumph skipped the fence and Jason was thrown heavily into the Armco barrier and he battled through the pain to gain a great 10th place. The crash destroyed Jason's bike and therefore it had to be totally re-built from scratch, a lengthy process for the team and with only two hours to do it in before the second qualifying session.
Jason was taken to the medical centre and was checked over for any serious injuries and was declared fit to ride for the second qualifying session. The Oxford TAG team were working exceptionally hard to get the Triumph fixed for the second session, but after the extensive damage caused in the crash they were unable to get out on the track for more than a couple of laps for qualifying two, forcing the young Australian the qualify in 17th place on the grid.
A flying start saw O'Halloran in 12th position after the opening lap and he was locked in a battled for the 18 laps with Dan Kneen and Lee Johnston. Johnston and O'Halloran began to bridge a small gap but swapped positions for the last eight laps of the race with the Irishman, the pain took advantage in the closing stages and Jason eventually crossed the line in 10th position gaining some solid points in his Championship campaign.
O'Halloran commented "It's been a really tough weekend and considering the crash that I had yesterday I'm just pleased to come away with no broken bones and some Championship points in the bag. The new one bike rule made things a little more difficult as it didn't give the team much time to try and fix the one that I managed to destroy! I'm very sore and was certainly feeling worse for wear this morning when I got up but I knew I had to just get out there and do what I could. I got a great start which helped and I just had to roll with it, the injuries from the crash made the closing stages of the race hard work as I was just having to move with the bike and couldn't really change the direction as fast as I would have liked. I would like to thank all the Oxford TAG Triumph team for working so hard and getting me back out on the grid and the Championship points I secured could make all the difference at the end of the season."
Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport 600cc race (18 laps)
James Westmoreland (Yamaha) Graeme Gowland (Honda) Tom Grant (Yamaha) Billy McConnell (Yamaha) Jack Kennedy (Yamaha) Ian Hutchinson (Honda) Ben Wilson (Kawasaki) Chris Martin (Kawasaki) Lee Johnston (Kawasaki) Jason O'Halloran (Oxford TAG Triumph)
2010 Calendar
Round 3 Oulton Park 1st - 2nd - 3rd May Round 4 Cadwell Park 21st - 22nd - 23rd MayRound 5 Mallory Park 25th - 26th - 27th JuneRound 6 Knockhill 2nd - 3rd - 4th JulyRound 7 Snetterton 16th - 17th - 18th JulyRound 8 Brands Hatch GP 6th - 7th - 8th AugustRound 9 Cadwell Park 28th - 29th - 30th AugustRound 10 Croft 10th - 11th - 12th SeptemberRound 11 Silverstone 24th - 25th - 26th SeptemberRound 12 Oulton Park 8th - 9th - 10th October
