British Superbikes: O'Halloran claims podium double

Having qualified for a front row start to the first of two 16-lap races, the Market Rasen-based rider was up into third on lap three, and when James Ellison pulled out with a technical problem on lap seven, he was up into second.

But before he had a chance to settle he was overtaken by Josh Brookes and was relegated straight back down to third.

Leon Haslam was beginning to reel him in towards the end, but the Australian rider was able to fend him off and cross the finish line for his second third place of the current campaign.

Starting the second race from the front row, once again O’Halloran didn’t get away to the best of starts and circulated in fifth place for the first 10 laps.

When Ellison crashed on lap 10 he was elevated to fourth place and began to chase down John Hopkins who he passed at turn one on lap 13 to secure third place which he held to the chequered flag.

“A double podium and the first of the year, I am really pleased,” O’Halloran said. “The whole team has been working great this weekend.”

“We turned up to Snetterton after the test and we didn’t really have to change a lot. We worked a lot on race distances and that really paid off in both races today.

“I enjoyed the battle at the end with Hopper, he was riding well and it was hard to pass him, I really had to work hard for it.

“The Fireblade is really coming together for us now, we are consistent and I feel in a good place.

“In the past the next few rounds have been strong for us so we need to aim to be at least on the podium and hope to get a win in there, too.”

The 32 points accrued from Snetterton brought his total to 115 and nicely placed him in a comfortable fifth position in the rider standings.

The next round is at Brands Hatch on July 23.