This weekend saw Honda Racing on the podium twice in what proved to be a weekend of highs and lows for the team, in the first round of the MCE British Superbike Championship showdown.

Jason O’Halloran had a great start to the first race and found himself sixth in the first corner. The O’Show was quick to move further up the field into fourth aboard his Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade, before closing the gap to James Ellison.

After chasing him down for most of the 20-lap race, O’Halloran made the move with three laps to go. Lapping faster, he was able to maintain his hold on third and make the trip to the race one podium.

Unfortunately the Aussie was unable to repeat the performance in the second race due to a first lap incident. After making a good start O’Halloran was boxed in and tagged by another rider, which resulted in a crash that saw him unable to finish the race.

In a reversal of fortunes, team-mate Dan Linfoot found himself boxed in on the start of the first race and found himself tenth on the first lap. A strong ride aboard his Fireblade saw him move through the pack into seventh at the chequered flag.

However, a good start in the second race saw him up into fourth and chasing the top three. As the leaders scrapped for positions Linfoot held his position, rode consistently and made no mistakes. Riding smart paid off, as the Yorkshireman was able to take third before Haslam crashed out, gifting him second. The trip to the podium now boosts Linfoot into third position in the championship.

Meanwhile the first lady of BSB, Jenny Tinmouth, was unfortunate to crash out of the first race. Unhurt, Tinmouth then regained her confidence and enjoyed riding her Fireblade to a 19th place finish in the second race.

The Honda Racing team, and it’s trio of riders, are now looking forward to making the trip to Assen, The Netherlands, (30 September – 02 October) for round eleven of the MCE British Superbike Championship.

“I wasn’t very happy with race one as I had an average start and ended up boxed in on the first lap. The first three laps were difficult trying to get past some of the riders, but I tried to get on and take as many points as possible. I ended up seventh place in the end but only just off the back of fifth. I had a good feeling on the bike and in myself so I was determined to make a good start in race two and be with the front group. I was able to put in a good performance and keep consistent and as a result came away with a second place, which is really important points and its moved me up into third in the championship. If we can keep this performance going into Assen I think we’re going to have a really good end to the season.”Dan Linfoot / #4

“I’m really happy with the first race as we got the podium coming from a long way back on the grid. I felt like we had good pace, I felt comfortable and thought we could have a better race in race two. I’m happy that I managed to get away in race one and I had a big gap to Ellison in third but I managed to keep chipping away, to get to him and grab the podium. Unfortunately I got taken out in the second race on the first lap. The Showdown system is great but it’s really hurt us today. I’ve been third in the championship for half the year but because of today I’m back down to fifth. It’s going to be tough now but we’re just going to have to put our head down and see what we can do in the next one.”Jason O'Halloran / #22

“The second race was really good and I had another good start. I’ve had a difficult weekend so I really wanted to get a race finish with consistent lap times, which is what I did. We can now go to Assen with a race finish and we’ve finished on a good note here at Donington. I’m looking forward to heading to Assen now. I’ve been improving all year with personal best nearly everywhere, the bike changes have been good and I think they’ll suit the Assen circuit.”Jenny Tinmouth / #20

“I’m really disappointed that Jason was out on the first lap of the second race after his podium in the first race. It’s dropped him down in the standings but I’m confident that he can fight back in Assen and Brands Hatch. It was a great ride from him in race one to come through from sixth and get on the podium in third place. Dan had a bad start in race one and found himself in traffic but managed to come through. I think he could have finished higher up if he’d had a better start but he did a good job in the second race to finish on the podium in second place; that’s lifted him to third in the championship. We’ve had a mixed weekend but we have two riders in the Showdown and we’re fighting for the top spots. I’m pleased with Jenny’s second race, it was a good solid finish for her. We need to do some work going forward but I think we can work together to improve her performance.”Havier Beltran - Honda Racing team manager

Race one (20 laps)

Pos Rider Number Time Team Constructor1 Shane Byrne 67 29:52.369 Be Wiser Ducati Ducati2 Leon Haslam 91 +7.225 JG Speedfit Kawasaki Kawasaki3 JasonO'Halloran 22 +9.937 Honda Racing Honda4 James Ellison 77 +10.567 JG Speedfit Kawasaki Kawasaki5 Peter Hickman 60 +14.441 JG Speedfit Kawasaki Kawasaki6 Richard Cooper 47 +15.381 Buildbase BMW BMW7 DanLinfoot 4 +15.596 Honda Racing Honda8 Christian Iddon 24 +15.952 Tyco BMW BMW9 John Hopkins 21 +25.374 ePayMe Yamaha Yamaha10 Michael Laverty 7 +27.102 Tyco BMW BMWDNF JennyTinmouth 20 Honda Racing HondaRace two (20 laps)

Pos Rider Number Time Team Constructor1 Shane Byrne 67 29:56.112 Be Wiser Ducati Ducati2 DanLinfoot 4 +2.502 Honda Racing Honda3 Christian Iddon 24 +5.475 Tyco BMW BMW4 Peter Hickman 60 +8.418 JG Speedfit Kawasaki Kawasaki5 Richard Cooper 47 +12.122 Buildbase BMW BMW6 Tommy Bridewell 46 +12.335 Bennetts Suzuki Suzuki7 James Ellison 77 +15.888 JG Speedfit Kawasaki Kawasaki8 Luke Mossey 12 +15.904 Quattro Plant Kawasaki Kawasaki9 Billy McConnell 3 +24.166 FS-3 Racing Kawasaki10 Glenn Irwin 2 +24.975 Be Wiser Ducati Ducati19 JennyTinmouth 20 +1:24.963 Honda Racing HondaDNF JasonO'Halloran 22 Honda Racing HondaStandings

Pos Rider Number Points Team Constructor1 Shane Byrne 67 593 Be Wiser Ducati Ducati2 Leon Haslam 91 566 JG Speedfit Kawasaki Kawasaki3 DanLinfoot 4 540 Honda Racing Honda4 James Ellison 77 535 JG Speedfit Kawasaki Kawasaki5 JasonO'Halloran 22 529 Honda Racing Honda6 Luke Mossey 12 514 Quattro Plant Kawasaki Kawasaki7 Peter Hickman 60 186 JG Speedfit Kawasaki Kawasaki8 Richard Cooper 47 178 Buildbase BMW BMW9 Michael Laverty 7 177 Tyco BMW BMW10 Christian Iddon 24 156 Tyco BMW BMWLog in for more details