O’Halloran wins four-way Donington dogfight to take first victory with Kawasaki
Jason O’Halloran became the fourth different race winner in the 2024 Bennetts British Superbike Championship as he celebrated a first win for Team Green, taking a hard fought victory in an incredible four-way Donington Park dogfight with reigning Champion Tommy Bridewell, Danny Kent and Glenn Irwin in the final race of the weekend.
In race two, Irwin had returned to winning form as he held off a hard-charging Leon Haslam to win for Hager PBM Ducati by 0.035s, whilst reigning champion Bridewell completed the podium.
However it was the final race of the weekend that delivered another different race winner in 2024 with some sensational Bennetts BSB action as the battle went down to the wire and over the final two laps, the leading four riders traded positions 14 times in an intense dice for the final victory of the weekend.
At the start of race three, Bridewell had got the jump on his rivals to lead the pack into Redgate for the first time ahead of Kent, Irwin and Haslam. The Hager PBM Ducati rider was instantly on the attack though and moved into second with a move at the Fogarty Esses.
O’Halloran was on a charge as he bid to make amends for his DNF earlier in the day and he was up to third by the fifth lap, trailing Bridewell and Irwin with Kent ready to try and move ahead of his Completely Motorbikes Kawasaki rival.
The leading four had broken away from the chasing pack and Irwin made another move at the Fogarty Esses to take the lead from Bridewell, whilst two laps later, O’Halloran pushed him back to third with a move at the Melbourne Loop.
Bridewell then regained the lead as O’Halloran moved into second as the pack shuffled again on lap seven but Irwin fought back and reclaimed second place at the Fogarty Esses again. A lap later and another move at the same place but him back into the lead.
Bridewell then had O’Halloran to fight off and the Australian made a decisive move at the Old Hairpin to forge ahead. Irwin was trying to make a break, but O’Halloran was hungry for his first podium with Kawasaki and as he pushed to try to make a move, Bridewell stormed back ahead of him.
It came down to a final two-lap tussle and at the start of the penultimate lap, Bridewell was leading from O’Halloran, Irwin and Kent. Irwin moved into second at Redgate but O’Halloran retaliated to reclaim the position.
O’Halloran then took the lead from Bridewell at the Old Hairpin as Kent made his move on Irwin at the same place. The reigning champion retook the lead at Starkeys, but O’Halloran was back ahead at Schwantz.
O’Halloran was then able to hold the advantage on the final lap, but behind there were seven changes of position as they scrap for the final podium places went down to the final drag to the line. Bridewell held on to second with Kent outdragging Irwin to the finish line.
O’Halloran commented: “It’s amazing to win, a massive thanks to everyone at Completely Motorbikes Kawasaki, everyone at AJN Steelstock for the support as well, the whole team has been working really hard since I joined.
“We’ve all been working hard just to make that adaptation to the Kawasaki and to get comfortable on it. The guys have put a massive effort in and I’ve felt good on the bike for a little while now, just our starting position hasn’t been great.
“The first race today was the first time where I felt like I was properly in the race, I felt like I had speed, I felt good on the bike but unfortunately we had a little technical. And then the guys put in a big shift and changed the engine and it was basically a brand new bike for the race.
“To go out and win is incredible. It’s really nice to get up here and win for the team, they haven’t won in a couple of years, so hopefully it’s the first of many.
“I didn’t want to be making my move on the last lap, because I knew it was going to be a bit scruffy, I knew I had plus zero on the board so I knew there was four of us as well and I didn’t want to miss out on the podium.
“I knew where I was fast on the track and where I could make a clean pass, and I just had to get close enough to do it. We all had strong points on the track so it was a bit of a yoyo effect. But I got close enough with a lap to go. On the last lap I just put my head down, tried to hit every apex and didn’t make any mistakes. Winning today is a massive thanks to the team.”
Kyle Ryde claimed fifth on the lone OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing R1 as Ryan Vickers was sidelined after his crash in race two, ahead of Leon Haslam, Andrew Irwin and Lee Jackson. Christian Iddon and Max Cook completed the top ten.
The weekend at Donington Park featured three different race winners representing three different teams and manufacturers, with Ryde victorious in the opening action yesterday for OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing, whilst Hager PBM Ducati’s Irwin and Completely Motorbikes Kawasaki’s O’Halloran celebrated today.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Donington Park, Race 2 result:
- Glenn Irwin (Hager PBM Ducati)
- Leon Haslam (ROKiT BMW Motorrad Team) +0.335s
- Tommy Bridewell (Honda Racing UK) +2.308s
- Danny Kent (McAMS Racing Yamaha) +3.920s
- Kyle Ryde (OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing) +5.903s
- Christian Iddon (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) +11.201s
- Charlie Nesbitt (MasterMac Honda) +11.346s
- Josh Brookes (FHO Racing BMW Motorrad Team) +11.639s
- Andrew Irwin (Honda Racing UK) +12.097s
- Fraser Rogers (TAG Honda) +14.032s
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Donington Park, Race 3 result:
- Jason O’Halloran (Completely Motorbikes Kawasaki)
- Tommy Bridewell (Honda Racing UK) +1.068s
- Danny Kent (McAMS Racing Yamaha) +1.209s
- Glenn Irwin (Hager PBM Ducati) +1.259s
- Kyle Ryde (OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing) +5.064s
- Leon Haslam (ROKiT BMW Motorrad Team) +5.969s
- Andrew Irwin (Honda Racing UK) +7.869s
- Lee Jackson (MasterMac Honda) +9.341s
- Christian Iddon (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) +10.092s
- Max Cook (Completely Motorbikes Kawasaki) +10.948s
Bennetts British Superbike Championship standings:
- Glenn Irwin (Hager PBM Ducati) 115
- Danny Kent (McAMS Racing Yamaha) 102
- Kyle Ryde (OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing) 95
- Tommy Bridewell (Honda Racing UK) 93
- Christian Iddon (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) 84
- Leon Haslam (ROKiT BMW Motorrad Team) 82
- Jason O’Halloran (Completely Motorbikes Kawasaki) 70
- Ryan Vickers (OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing) 68
- Max Cook (Completely Motorbikes Kawasaki) 46
- Charlie Nesbitt (MasterMac Honda) 46
Words and photos courtesy of BSB