Tarran Mackenzie Back in First at Brands Hatch
Tarran Mackenzie returned to winning ways as the McAMS Yamaha team dominated Round 5 of the 2022 Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch with their first ever treble 1-2.
After Jason O’Halloran’s stunning Sprint Race win on Saturday with Mackenzie second, the reigning champion would go one better twice on Sunday to earn the Monster Energy King of Brands trophy for the second successive year.
Temperatures soared on race day making for a slower two races than Saturday’s affair, with lap times around a second slower overall. In the opening race, Mackenzie got to the front early on and was able to pull a gap to take a commanding victory as he returned to the top step of the rostrum for the first time since he took the title at Brands in 2021.
The weekend’s final race would be a nail-biting affair with Mackenzie starting pole and O’Halloran third. Glenn Irwin took a surprise early race lead for Honda and was able to hang in until over half distance when O’Halloran made a move for the lead. Not long after, Mackenzie came through too and the final five laps would be a blockbuster for fans as the McAMS Yamaha duo duelled it out for the win.
It was Mackenzie who held the advantage going onto the final lap, and he’d managed to hold on to the top spot despite a last corner lunge from O’Halloran – the pair split by just 0.037 seconds.
O’Halloran now leads the standings by 10 points over Bradley Ray, with a seven point podium point advantage after his run of nine races finishing no worse than second while Mackenzie’s strong points haul sees him move into a Showdown position in eighth with 105 points, igniting his title defence.
Tarran spoke after the race stating “It’s been a perfect return to the front, being on the podium and winning races again! The goal was to try and get one podium this weekend and make headway into the championship so to have a dream weekend is amazing. We had good pace, qualified well and felt awesome in both of today’s races despite the heat. It’s been an incredible effort for everyone, I’m so happy to be back and I can’t wait for Thruxton. It’s been a great weekend for the team, our first ever triple 1-2!”
Credit to McAMS Yamaha
