McAMS Yamaha will enter into the 2022 British Superbike Championship (BSB) season with an unchanged rider line-up after Jason O’Halloran was confirmed alongside its reigning champion Tarran Mackenzie for another year.
Following hot on the heels of the announcement that confirmed Mackenzie will remain in BSB to defend his title - quashing rumours he was WorldSBK bound - O’Halloran’s renewal ensures McAMS Yamaha a fourth straight season with the pair.
One of the most experienced riders on the BSB grid having made his debut back in 2009, O’Halloran’s re-signing comes after a breakthrough campaign in 2021 where his erstwhile career tally of four wins was multiplied to 15.
It was success that thrust him into title favourite status and allowed him to open up a massive 106 point lead coming into the Title Showdown. However, this margin was reduced to 30 points by way of the championship format, a torrid weekend at Oulton Park subsequently saw him lose a lead to Mackenzie he couldn’t recover by the season’s end.
It meant that despite scoring more points than any other rider over the course of the 2021 BSB season, O’Halloran ended the year third overall.
Despite this, the Australian is confident he has shown now what he is capable of and is confident of turning that into that elusive BSB title win in 2022.
“2021 was my best ever season in BSB, I came into the season with four BSB wins to my name and ended the year on 15 having been on the podium in 22 out of the 33 races.
“There's no hiding from the fact the end of the year didn't go to plan, but, considering '21 was a career best season for me, that is just added motivation for 2022.
“We've sat down during the winter, worked out where we need to improve and had a really productive visit to Yamaha Racing in Italy, who have a lot to come for the R1 which is encouraging.
“The R1 is without doubt the bike to be on at the minute and since joining McAMS Yamaha, each year we have made a significant step so hopefully we can do that again next year."
Mackenzie and O’Halloran’s signing puts paid to rumours of it picking up one of several high-profile names currently without a ride, including Josh Brookes, plus WorldSBK-exiles Leon Haslam and Tom Sykes.
Mackenzie was tipped to step up to WorldSBK in 2022 in a deal with Go Eleven, but that seemingly hinged on it switching to Yamaha machinery. However, when that fell through, Go Eleven opted instead to sign with Philipp Oettl.
