Jason O'Halloran topped the final Bennetts British Superbike Championship Free Practice session at Thruxton this morning, trading positions at the top throughout the final minutes with Glenn Irwin, who was just 0.136s adrift at the chequered flag in second place.
Glenn Irwin set the initial benchmark from Danny Buchan and Lee Jackson in the early stages of the session, but O’Halloran had soon climbed the order to third position as the times continued to tumble in the dry conditions.
Glenn Irwin held the advantage until the final four minutes when his McAMS Yamaha rival moved ahead, but only for a couple of seconds, as the Honda Racing rider went back to the top.
O’Halloran’s final run though would eventually put him fastest, holding off Glenn Irwin as the pair both continued to push their times in the closing stages as VisionTrack Ducati’s Christian Iddon moved third.
Danny Kent was fourth as he made a jump up the order following his final sequence of laps, with Bradley Ray completing the top five, with five different manufacturers holding the leading five positions at the chequered flag.
Peter Hickman led the FHO Racing BMW charge in sixth place ahead of Kyle Ryde and yesterday’s pace-setter Lee Jackson.
Gino Rea and Danny Buchan completed the top ten as defending champion Josh Brookes’ woes continued as he set a time that put him 17th on the timesheets and 1.903s adrift of the leading laptime.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Thruxton, Free Practice 3 result:
1. Jason O'Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) 0.136s
2. Glenn Irwin (Honda Racing) +0.136s
3. Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati) +0.727s
4. Danny Kent (Buildbase Suzuki) +0.778s
5. Bradley Ray (Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW) +0.779s
6. Peter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW) +0.866s
7. Kyle Ryde (Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW) +0.887s
8. Lee Jackson (FS-3 Racing Kawasaki) +1.144s
9. Gino Rea (Buildbase Suzuki) +1.219s
10. Danny Buchan (SYNETIQ BMW) +1.251s