Jason O'Halloran equalled his best result in round eight of the Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Championship at Brands Hatch taking a stunning fourth place in the epic 16 lap race. The young Australian was thrown in right at the deep end at the extremely technical 2.3-mile circuit having never ridden there before. O'Halloran had to adapt to the physical track quickly in order to put the East Coast Racing Yamaha up near the front end of the pack.
From 18th place in first free practice on Friday, O'Halloran dug deep throughout the weekend and worked closely with his team to find the set up that would help him run consistently fast times. Saturday morning was wet and Jason gained a 10th place and was eager for a good qualifying position in the one and only qualifying session on Saturday afternoon and in the dry conditions Jason secured ninth place on the grid for race day.
A bad start saw him fall to 16th place into the first corner and back up to 12th by the end of the opening lap. A number of incidents in front and behind Jason saw the safety car being deployed on lap seven whilst Jason was lying in seventh place. The car was out on the track for three laps bunching the pack close together; the Aussie was through to sixth by the end of lap 10 and soon was making some fantastic moves on Billy McConnell and Ben Wilson for fourth place, setting his own personal fastest lap on lap 13 of 16.
A delighted Jason said "I've never ridden at Brands before but I knew it would be the type of track that would suit my style once I got a good set up. Spider and GP James worked so hard all weekend to make sure I felt really comfortable on the Yamaha. The race was pretty fraught and I had to put in some moves that I had to make stick. I really enjoyed it and loved being back up near the front end and fighting for top results. I had to work very hard for that but it was worth it and I'm really pleased for the entire East Coast Racing Team for the result that both Pat and I managed to get. I'm really looking forward to getting to Cadwell in a few weeks time."
Meanwhile Jason's East Coast Racing team mate Pat McDougall took a solid win in the British Supersport Cup race and further extended his lead in the Cup Championship by 24 points, the youngster also took a solid overall 10th place in the Championship race. He commented "I'm made up with the race today; I tried to stay out of all the carnage that was going on around me and just wanted to bring the bike home in a good position. I dug deep and after qualifying in 21st position I knew that I'd have my work cut out. Luckily I got a great start and managed to make a few block passes into the opening corners. This is my best result in the dry so I'm really pleased and felt great out there. I've got myself a nice lead in the Cup now so hope I can continue to get consistent results at the remaining rounds. Once again I'd like to thank my sponsors and the East Coast Racing team for all their help and support."
Team Manager Phil Reed is very happy with the results at Brands Hatch saying "This is a great result for the team with both Jason and Pat, fourth and tenth is fantastic and bearing in mind this is our first season in racing, it's a real buzz. The boys both worked very hard throughout the weekend and the results proved that and I just hope that this memento can continue for the rest of the year. Everyone worked really well together as a team and now I'm really looking forward to Cadwell for the next round."
