Tarran Mackenzie ended his McAMS Yamaha teammate’s race winning momentum in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship, claiming the second victory of the weekend at Donington Park, in an intense final three-lap dash to the chequered flag.
At the start of the race, Mackenzie had grabbed the advantage ahead of his championship-leading teammate, with Peter Hickman and Andrew Irwin in close contention. The McAMS Yamaha pair traded blows at the front, switching positions on the second lap before local hero Mackenzie was able to maintain the initial lead.
Andrew Irwin had moved the SYNETIQ BMW into second place ahead of Christian Iddon as the pair battled for second place, however on the seventh lap contact was made at Redgate and the VisionTrack Ducati rider crashed out of the race. The race stewards subsequently issued Andrew Irwin a two-second time penalty for his part in the collision.
At the front, Glenn Irwin had broken through for Honda Racing, taking the lead on the tenth lap, but he was only able to hold off a determined Mackenzie for two laps, as the McAMS Yamaha rider moved back ahead. Glenn Irwin continued to battle for the leading positions however, his race ended prematurely with a crash on lap 17.
Mackenzie was desperately trying to gap the chasing pack, edging out a margin over his rivals. Peter Hickman had meanwhile pushed himself into second place ahead of O’Halloran and Bradley Ray as the podium fight continued to rage.
By lap 20, O’Halloran had moved into second with a move at Roberts as he bid to close the gap to his teammate. Hickman, Tommy Bridewell and Ray though were not giving an inch. Ryan Vickers was also in the mix despite his start from the back row of the grid after a technical problem before the start; however he was also issued a time penalty for overtaking under yellow flags.
The BMW Safety Car was deployed when Danny Buchan heavily crashed out of the race, making a new race distance of 28 laps, when the race resumed with three laps remaining.
Mackenzie had backed the pack up and was able to defend hard to keep O’Halloran at bay initially, whilst Hickman was pushed back to fourth as a hard-charging Ray moved into third place ahead of the final lap.
Ray saved his best until last, making a move on O’Halloran into Roberts for the final time to record the first podium finish for the Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW team, as O’Halloran completed the podium.
Bridewell was fifth for the Oxford Products Racing Ducati team ahead of Kyle Ryde who equalled his best finish of the season in sixth. Vickers was seventh ahead of Xavi Forés on the second of the FHO Racing BMWs.
Andrew Irwin and Josh Brookes completed the top ten ahead of race three this afternoon.
The victory for Mackenzie means that he is now in contention along with O'Halloran for the £25,000 prize in the Milwaukee Summer Grand Slam. The McAMS Yamaha riders would need to win the next four races to claim the prize, with £10,000 up for grabs if either rider can claim four wins from the next four races.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Donington Park, Race 2 result:
1. Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha)
2. Bradley Ray (Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW) +0.066s
3. Jason O'Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) +0.173s
4. Peter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW) +0.636s
5. Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) +1.221s
6. Kyle Ryde (Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW) +1.457s
7. Ryan Vickers (RAF Regular & Reserve Kawasaki) +2.288s
8. Xavi Forés (FHO Racing BMW) +3.220s
9. Andrew Irwin (SYNETIQ BMW) +3.253s
10. Josh Brookes (VisionTrack Ducati) +3.905s
Bennetts British Superbike Championship standings after Race 2:
1. Jason O'Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) 273
2. Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) 214
3. Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati) 203
4. Danny Buchan (SYNETIQ BMW) 165
5. Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) 132
6. Peter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW) 128
7. Bradley Ray (Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW) 112
8. Glenn Irwin (Honda Racing) 101
For the full standings please click here
The grid for race three can be found by clicking here