A three-way tussle for supremacy was the name of the game last time out in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Thruxton with Jason O'Halloran, Bradley Ray and Tarran Mackenzie battling all the way to the finish.
The trio delivered some of the most incredible action of the season so far, with the victories for O’Halloran, and the podium finishes for Ray, meaning they became the first riders confirmed in the Showdown.
O’Halloran had the edge in the opening two races, and the championship leader enjoyed being part of the show.
“I’ve had a couple of them at Thruxton now,” said O’Halloran. “You don’t realise how good they are until you sit back and you watch them and you see all the social media reaction on it and the fans going absolutely mad after that second race – I really enjoyed it.
“Me, Taz and Brad just did our own thing for the first 16/17 laps of the race and then it all sort of went bananas for the last couple. I enjoyed that and obviously to win it was mega.”
Mackenzie was the victor in race three, and the championship leader’s strong surge with podium finishes has put him firmly back in the title fight.
Mackenzie said: “It felt really cool to be part of the races at Thruxton; especially the two on Sunday. To be leading twice going into the last chicane and then only just winning one of them and just losing out in the other shows just how close the racing was at the last round.
“One of those races I lost to Jason and the other almost to Brad, so that shows how close it was between us three. I think we all deserved to win and it was nice to have good hard, clean battles and to finish on the podium was great.”
Ray had a hat trick of podium finishes to consolidate his position in the Showdown and is ready to keep the momentum going at Cadwell Park.
“It was nice to be battling with the McAMS Yamaha boys at Thruxton and having a good scrap – I really enjoyed all three races,” added Ray. “I think all the spectators and the public enjoyed the races too!
“To have all three races, with the biggest gap as close as it was, shows that all three of us were on the limit of ourselves and the bike. It is good to be able to be fighting with them – they have a lot of experience and data around there, and so that made it even better that we could mix with them.”