Editorial Note: American Brandon Paasch, riding his Dynavolt Triumph Street Triple RS 765, finished 8th in British Supersport Race One Saturday at Thruxton.
More, from a press release issued by MotorSport Vision Racing:
O’Halloran victorious as Glenn Irwin crashes out of podium contention
Jason O’Halloran claimed his fifth win of the 2021 Bennetts British Superbike Championship season, after leading Christian Iddon by 2.433s as the race was red flagged when Glenn Irwin crashed out of the podium fight, unhurt.
O’Halloran got an incredible start from pole position to grab the lead ahead of Irwin and Peter Hickman, however a crash on the opening lap for Kyle Ryde and Joe Francis bought out the BMW Safety Car. Both riders were able to walk away from the crash, and the race resumed on lap four.
O’Halloran controlled the pace at the front, breaking away from the pack in the later stages of the race to build a more comfortable buffer before the race was halted. This leaves him just a single point adrift of Christian Iddon in the overall standings ahead of tomorrow’s two races.
Prior to his accident, Irwin was right in the fight for the podium, holding second position ahead of Hickman and Iddon in the opening stages with Ryan Vickers in contention too.
On lap five, Hickman’s FHO Racing BMW machine moved into second. Honda Racing’s Irwin was then pushed back a further place into fourth as Iddon then made a move, drafting through on the VisionTrack Ducati.
Iddon then pushed Hickman for second place, making a move at the Chicane as the battle intensified for the podium. It was a battle between Iddon, Hickman and Irwin for the final two places inside the top three as O’Halloran made his break at the front.
Irwin was soon up to third, as he produced a stunning move around the outside at the Chicane on lap 13. His progress came to a sudden end a lap later though as he crashed out at 119mph. With his stricken Honda Fireblade in the track, the race was red flagged. Irwin was able to walk away from the incident, whilst his rivals Iddon and Hickman climbed onto the podium.
Vickers had his best result in fourth place for the RAF Regular & Reserve Kawasaki team, holding off Lee Jackson who completed the top five for FS-3 Racing Kawasaki, with four manufacturers in the top four positions.
Danny Kent was another rider to secure his best result in Bennetts BSB in sixth place for the Buildbase Suzuki team, ahead of Bradley Ray and Gino Rea.
Tarran Mackenzie was running sixth, but a cut of the Chicane meant the McAMS Yamaha rider was given a 2-second long lap equivalent time penalty, ending up in ninth place with Tommy Bridewell completing the top-ten.
It was another disappointing race for reigning champion Josh Brookes; he was outside the points in 17th place.
For more information on the Bennetts British Superbike Championship visit www.britishsuperbike.com
Jason O’Halloran – McAMS Yamaha
BikeSocial Race 1 winner
“Normally throughout practice you will have done a long run. I did one this morning, but it was straight out of the pits and it was first bit of dry track time all weekend, so it was a bit of an unknown.
“The pace was definitely faster than what I thought it would be, not from trying to do that, but it just came to me and I thought while the pace is there and the tyre feels good, I’ll just keep doing my thing.
“The gap to the guys behind me was staying constant for about the first five or six laps and I saw it start to grow, so I just wanted to keep my pace and try to get away.
“It was a comfortable win, but it certainly was never easy. I didn’t have to block too much, didn’t have to worry about the guys behind me, which is a nice feeling.
“I think tomorrow’s race might be a bit slower, another five or six laps is a lot around here when the tyre starts to drop, so we’ll see what tomorrow brings. All the guys will improve again and so we need to do the same for tomorrow.”
More, from a press release issued by VisionTrack Ducati:
Iddon Maintains Championship Lead At Thruxton
Christian Iddon maintained his Bennetts British Superbike Championship lead this afternoon when the VisionTrackChristian Iddon Ducati rider took a second place in the opening race of the fourth round held at Thruxton.
But it again proved to be a tough day for reigning champion Josh Brookes with the Australian struggling and ending the race in 17th position for Paul Bird’s Lake District-based team.
After wet conditions yesterday at the super-fast Hampshire track, today saw good, dry conditions although the fortunes of the two PBM riders varied in free practice with Christian placing third on the factory-supported VisionTrack Ducati Panigale V4 RR and Josh back in 17th.
That pattern continued in qualifying where Tyneside-based Iddon posted the fifth fastest time for a second row start for the afternoon’s 15-lap race whilst Josh was back in 20th and on the seventh row.
Iddon slotted into fourth at the completion of the opening lap which was where he remained until the fifth lap when he overhauled Honda’s Glenn Irwin. Yamaha’s Jason O’Halloran, Iddon’s main championship rival at present, led but on lap 12, Christian moved up to second to ensure his losses were a minimum.
The race ended on the penultimate lap after Irwin crashed heavily, fortunately without injury, and O’Halloran took the win ahead of Iddon which means the pair are separated by just one point in Iddon’s favour ahead of tomorrow’s two races.
For Brookes, it was another challenging race and after losing a number of places on the opening lap, the combination of a poor start and being slowed by a first lap crash, he dropped to 23rd at one point. He regrouped and managed to gain six places, but 17th meant he was outside the points to remain in 11th overall in the standings.
Christian Iddon: “Thruxton’s different to any other circuit we go to, and it’s been a bit of a bogey track for me in the past so it’s nice to finish on the podium this time around. I was really surprised at the pace we were doing and managing the tyre was the challenge, but I stayed patient and managed the race as best I could. I was a bit nervous ahead of the weekend, but we’ve stuck to our plan and didn’t panic when the riders ahead of me made a bit of a break. Jason’s pace was too much but the others came back to me and whilst it’s always sad to finish a race on a red flag, it’s another good podium.”
Josh Brookes: “It’s been another tough weekend so far and we’ve been trying to limit the amount of front-end Josh Brookeschatter we’ve been having. It hasn’t been the traditional feeling, but we can see from the data that there’s not as much travel in the front. We made some changes for the race but when things are going wrong in racing, they go wrong, and I was pushed wide by the first corner crash which lost me a lot of time. The changes we’d made were in the wrong direction too and it was near impossible to make any kind of impression. We’ll be going with the opposite of that for tomorrow and do our best to get back to where we should be.”
Johnny Mowatt, Team Co-ordinator: “It’s been a very good day for Christian and having had tough times here previously for other teams, we drilled it into him that being patient and not destroying the tyre was key. He probably could have gone with Jason but knew he wouldn’t have had tyre left in the final third, so he played the waiting game and did so superbly. It’s not easy for a racer to do as it goes against their instincts, but he rode with his head and also with a lot of heart.
“Unfortunately, it’s been another struggle so far for Josh and whilst we thought his pace looked good after six or seven laps in qualifying, he wasn’t able to duplicate it in the race. When you qualify a long way back on the grid, you’re fighting a losing battle as you’re never going to make massive in-roads, but the team will make some more changes and he’ll go again tomorrow.”
Tomorrow’s 20-lap races are scheduled for 13:30 and 16:30 respectively.
More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing UK:
Honda Racing UK on the hunt at Thruxton
The Honda Racing UK team have felt the highs and lows of racing this afternoon at the fourth round of the 2021 Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Thruxton, after Glenn Irwin crashed out of podium contention during the closing stages of Race 1.
The Honda team got today off to a flying start with Glenn scoring the second fastest Qualifying time aboard the CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP to take his first front row start of the season. By mid-race Glenn was sitting fourth after Peter Hickman and Christian Iddon had both made passes, but during the closing the stages Glenn was hot on their heels and wanting a podium spot.
Passing Hickman, Glenn was up to third on the penultimate lap and the first podium of the year was looking set for the Honda team, but celebrations were cut short after Glenn suffered a massive highside and crashed out of the running, thankfully unhurt.
Glenn’s teammates Ryo Mizuno and Takumi Takahashi continue to learn the fast and flowing Hampshire circuit. Making their race debut at Thruxton and able to make up places from their qualifying positions during Race 1, Takumi came home 20th and Ryo 21st.
For the teams’ Pirelli National Superstock contender Tom Neave it’s been a strong round so far. Third fastest in yesterday’s combined practice, Tom Qualified sixth for today’s 15-lap race. With a good start off the line Tom enjoyed a solid race, as well as some on-track battles to take the chequered flag fifth aboard the Fireblade.
The team will be back in action tomorrow (Sunday 1 August) for two more Superbike races and the final Superstock race of the weekend.
#2 Glenn Irwin
There’s a lot of positives to be taken from Race 1 today and I’m looking forward to the two longer races tomorrow. We seem to be able to manage the tyre wear over a shorter race, I’m aware that everyone can improve and we’ll continue to do our work in warm up. I’m not going to dwell too much on the crash today, I’m sorry to the team for the added work and thank you to them for rebuilding the bike. I am looking forward to the longer 20-lap races tomorrow, as 13 here was fun!
#88 Ryo Mizuno
I had a good start in FP3, but the qualifying session did not go as I had imagined and I could not make a good flow in the race. The track is fast and all the corners are fun to ride, so I will try my best to finish with a smile tomorrow.
#13 Takumi Takahashi
This is a very fast circuit and all corners are fast corners! It’s not always easy to understand the UK circuits and so far this weekend I haven’t really understood this track so struggling to enjoy a little. Tomorrow we have warm up and two longer races, so I look forward to working with the team and seeing how we get on.
#68 Tom Neave
I said to myself at the start of the weekend if I can keep in the top two rows I’d be happy and we did that in qualifying. I got up to third, but I completely played my game wrong. I felt I had so much more in the tank on those first few laps when I was third, but I thought I’d save my tyre, but in fact I allowed the others to catch me up and pass me, I then spent the rest of the race catching them. Early on I should have just got my head down and got to the front, I learnt a lot and I am disappointed with fifth, tomorrow I’m going to put it on the line a little more and fight for the podium.
More, from a press release issued by Dynavolt Triumph:
Podium run continues for Dynavolt Triumph at Thruxton
Dynavolt Triumph’s Kyle Smith’s podium run continued today in the 2021 Quattro Group British Supersport Championship 12-lap sprint race at Thruxton with a third place from his qualifying position of seventh on the grid.
Both Dynavolt Triumph riders got their first dry run during qualifying earlier in the day with Smith quickly adapting to the dry settings for the afternoon race. Smith made a good start and was up to fifth when he ran off onto the grass going into the complex, losing a significant amount of time but unfazed, he found the pace again to finish third in the Supersport class.
Kyle Smith: “A good first race I just made a small mistake trying to pass Lee fighting for the podium position. I ran on but I felt like I had the pace and made it back up to third position. I’m really happy, the Dynavolt Triumph was working really good in the race so we’ll just carry on the progress and see if we can be a bit higher up in the race tomorrow.”
Teammate Brandon Paasch had an issue with the quickshifter right from the lights and despite that he worked round the problem to deliver another solid top ten finish in eighth place.
Brandon Paasch: “Solid first race here at Thruxton, looking to build for tomorrow and keep moving forward.”
Dynavolt Triumph Team Manager Simon Buckmaster: “It was a good ride by Kyle, we have to remember he only had 25 minutes in the dry before that race. For sure he learned a lot in the race about the lines round here in the dry. Quite a big mistake into the complex, he really ran on. If he’d not made that mistake he was fast enough, his tyre looked good and he had the pace to win so we learned a lot and another podium is great.”
“A good ride from Brandon, he dropped back at the start but he rode well to eighth. We are just looking at the data now as he had a problem with the quickshifter and a bit of cutting out but a good top ten finish for him. If it’s dry or wet tomorrow we are in a good position for all conditions, we’re looking forward to it. Congratulations to the team for another podium, let’s see what tomorrow brings.”
The feature race from Thruxton is tomorrow (Sunday) at 15:40 (BST).
