TOUGH DAY IN THE OFFICE FOR HONDA RACING AT OULTON PARK

The Honda Racing squad and its trio of riders are leaving the second round of the MCE British Superbike Championship at Oulton Park, slightly deflated after a difficult round with mixed weather conditions and results, but also focusing on the positives that came from the weekend.

Race one got underway in wet conditions and saw Jason O’Halloran on the front row of the grid in third place, while Dan Linfoot was just behind in fourth and Jenny Tinmouth 26th. Both O’Halloran and Linfoot had good starts off the line aboard their Honda CBR1000RR Fireblades, and quickly slotted into second and third places.

A nail-biting race unfolded in the tricky conditions, and by the eighth lap Linfoot had passed his team-mate and the pair were holding onto third and fourth places. By lap 14 Linfoot had made his move into second place and on lap 15 took the lead.

It was looking like the Yorkshireman was about to claim his maiden Superbike victory holding a 0.260 second lead, but in the closing stages of the race he crashed out of the running, unhurt. O’Halloran enjoyed a solid race crossing the line fourth and collecting vital championship points, while Tinmouth came home just outside the top-20 in 22nd place.

A massive effort by Linfoot’s crew saw his Fireblade ready for race two and he took his start position on the grid in second place, with O’Halloran sixth and Tinmouth 27th. The race was declared wet and tyre choice was going to prove crucial over the 18-laps of the 4.332km Cheshire circuit.

Getting a good start off the line Linfoot moved quickly into the front running, but on lap eight and having dropped back to eighth position he lost the front of his CBR at Shell, crashing out unhurt and putting an end to his weekend.

Team-mate O’Halloran enjoyed another solid race on his CBR and stayed within the top-ten throughout the 18 laps and eventually crossed the line eighth, collecting further points. The Australian is now fifth in the overall standings. Local rider Tinmouth came home inside the top 20 in 19th position.

The Honda Racing squad will now return to the workshop and start preparing the CBR’s for the third round of the championship, which takes place at Brands Hatch 20-22 May.

Obviously I’m disappointed leaving here today, both Dan and Jason showed huge potential and we showed that we do have the pace to run at the front, but luck it seems wasn’t on our side this weekend. I know that they can both run at the front and we need to turn it around now for Brands, the conditions haven’t been ideal this weekend, but that has been the same for everyone. When you’re constantly changing settings it’s hard to be strong but I do believe we can get things back on track with both of them. Jenny enjoyed getting to grips with her machine in the wet conditions and I think it has done her the world of good in these conditions. She’s happy to leave her home round with two finishes, as I know that she was concerned about crashing here. But it’s onwards and upwards now and we will take the positives gained this weekend with us to Brands.
Havier Beltran – Honda Racing team manager

Well, there’s not much I can say if I am honest, I’m disappointed to be leaving here after two races with no points, having led laps and being so close to my first win, it’s a little hard to take really. I made a small mistake in race one, which ended that for me, and race two was down to a bad tyre choice. All-round it’s been a bad day, not just with the conditions and the results, but also with missed opportunities. I will take some positives from today, as I rode well and had a good feeling on the CBR, so I have to take that with me to Brands Hatch.
Dan Linfoot / #4

Both races we’ve had tough conditions for, the first race dried up slightly and I was running on full wets so was spinning about a bit and race two was the same for me really. I did enjoy both of the races and had a lot fun just learning to control the slide and learning how the Fireblade feels in wet conditions. I always love riding here, mainly as it is my home round, but it’s also a fun circuit to ride. I’m leaving here happy enough with the finishes and looking forward to the next round now.
Jenny Tinmouth / #20

Race one was good, it was nice to get another fourth place finish and some more solid points towards the championship. The first half of the race I was comfortable in second place and was just ticking off the laps, from about half distance I lost a little rear grip so struggled with that. For the second race we made a little change to the machine and it had been raining before we went out, but started to dry, we made a decision to run with intermediates with a wet setting, which meant the CBR was probably a little soft once the track started to dry. The first lap was horrible and I got passed and ran wide, which knocked me off my stride a little, but I managed to find some rhythm and caught the group up and started to make up some places. We learnt a lot in that race and made a small change to the geometry that I think will help us in both the wet and dry. Roll on Brands now and hope to bring back some more points.
Jason O’Halloran / #22

Race One (18 laps)

Race two (18 laps)

Standings