McAMS Yamaha will be looking to strengthen their position in the 2022 Bennetts British Superbike Championship fight as the series reaches Snetterton this weekend for the eighth round of the season.

It’s an important weekend as it marks the end of the ‘Main Season’ ahead of the 2022 Title Fighters Showdown getting underway at Oulton Park later this month.

Jason O’Halloran, who continues to lead the all-important podium points table despite slipping into second in the main season standings at Cadwell Park, has already confirmed his place in the Showdown after an impressive season so far has seen him win more races than any other rider with a tally of six and 12 podium finishes. His priority for the weekend will be further extending the podium point lead he has, as this will determine the championship standings on Sunday evening.

It’s a different story for reigning champion Tarran Mackenzie, who after missing the first two rounds through injury is just seventh in the points table despite sitting third overall on podium points. Holding a 22 point advantage over Danny Buchan in ninth, Mackenzie’s aim this weekend will be to remain in the top eight so he can fight to retain his crown.

Snetterton was a fruitful venue for the team last year, marking their first ever triple double podium with Mackenzie going 1-2-1 and O’Halloran 3-1-3, but as ever with British Superbikes the team are expecting tough competition this weekend and with the weather forecast looking questionable, there could be even further complications.

Tim Neave will be hoping to make amends for a disappointing result at Cadwell Park saw him run onto the grass while fighting for a top five position in his first mistake of the year. With the championship fight now looking unattainable, the Lincolnshire rider will be looking to return to the top step of the National Superstock class for Edwards 1902 Yamaha before the end of the season.

Practice sessions get underway on Friday before qualifying and the opening Superbike race on Saturday with the final two Superbike races and sole Superstock race on Saturday.

Jason O’Halloran    
Championship: 2nd (359 points) 
“Cadwell didn’t go to plan for us, but not everything in racing is plain sailing and you have rounds that don’t work out for whatever reason. The key is to be able to understand why and bounce back, and I’m confident that we can do just that. We had a good test at Snetterton earlier in the year and it was a strong circuit for us in 2021. We are already confirmed in the Showdown, so the goal has to be podium credits as anything other than the top three is effectively a non-score at this point, even if you don’t lose as many points to your rivals. We want to be in the strongest position possible ahead of the final three rounds and then the gloves really come off!”

Tarran Mackenzie
Championship: 7th (186 points) 
“I’m looking forward to getting to Snetterton this weekend, it was a really strong track for us in 2021 with two wins for me and Jason winning the other to make it a triple for the team and I won the Race of Aces trophy, which would be nice to achieve again! It’s the last weekend before the Showdown starts so the main goal is to actually get through! We’re in seventh at the minute so it would be good to get that Showdown position boxed off as soon as possible this weekend. The weather looks like it may play a bit of a part so we’ll see what happens and give it our best as always.”

Tim Neave
Edwards 1902 Superstock 
“I can’t pretend I wasn’t a bit disappointed with the result at Cadwell, but it was the first mistake I’ve made all year! I’m looking forward to seeing how the R1 performs at Snetterton, I really enjoyed riding there earlier this year and I think we should be strong. My aim for the remainder of the season is to end the year in the strongest way possible, we were regularly winning races at the start of the year so the goal has got to be to get back to the top step!”

Steve Rodgers
Team Principal
“This weekend we have a number of different goals with each of our riders in very different positions. Jason is already in the Showdown, so he needs to score podium points to strengthen his position in the championship challenge for when that fight gets underway at Oulton Park. Cadwell was a bit of a blip for him, so his side of the garage need to recover from that and get back to the sharp end. Tarran’s story is quite different as he hasn’t yet confirmed his place in the Showdown, so he needs to do that. He’s got a 22 point buffer to ninth so a strong first couple of races should mean he’s OK, but this is BSB and nothing is ever simple. The weather forecast looks a bit dodgy so we will see what happens.”