The McAMS Yamaha team are looking to continue their strong start to the 2019 Bennetts British Superbike championship in the second round at Oulton Park this Bank Holiday weekend.

The 2.6-mile undulating Cheshire circuit couldn’t be more different from the short, Silverstone national track but all three riders are raring to go at the more traditional-style British circuit.

After a victory and a second-place last time out, Tarran Mackenzie leads the championship at this early stage and will be looking to consolidate his position as a series frontrunner. The Cheshire circuit posed a challenge for Mackenzie last year, but he showed significant improvements over the two rounds there last season and is confident the changes made to the bike over the winter will further help him in challenging at the front.

Team-mate Jason O’Halloran has a strong record at the Cheshire track, missing out on victory to eventual champion Leon Haslam by just 0.086 seconds last May, the Australian is confident heading into the weekend as he looks to secure his first victory for the McAMS Yamaha team. After tweaking his shoulder in a small crash at least week’s test, O’Halloran has undergone daily cryotherapy as well as intense physio and expects no issues from the injury this weekend.

Securing two top 18 finishes at Silverstone and fighting towards the points, BSB rookie Matt Truelove will be looking to carry that momentum into the second round of the year as he continues to show his potential in the premier class.

Free practice gets underway on Saturday with qualifying on Sunday and both races taking place on Bank Holiday Monday, the full schedule can be seen below.

Tarran Mackenzie

“After such a strong start at Silverstone, I’m really looking forward to the second round to see if we can start where we left off! Oulton Park was one of the tougher circuits for me last year, I found the superbike a bit of an animal around what is a physical track, but over the winter the changes we’ve made to the bike make it a little easier to ride and although last week’s test was a bit of a wash out, I could definitely see the improvement so I am confident of staying at the sharp end and hopefully maintaining our strong position in the championship.”

Jason O’Halloran

“No points at Silverstone clearly wasn’t ideal, but it is better to get bad rounds out of the way earlier in the year rather than later. That’s at the back of my mind now, as far as I’m concerned Silverstone was another winter test and the season starts now at Oulton Park, which is one of my favourite circuits on the calendar. Last year I finished second, missing the win by less than a tenth of a second, and this year I feel I’m in a much better position so hopefully we can go one step further and get to where we should be.”

Matt Truelove

“I was really pleased to leave Silverstone with two 18th places. It might not sound much, but BSB is a tough class and the quality of the field is incredible, so I went into the opening round with a goal of two top 25 finishes. That’s meant I can go into Oulton this weekend with a bit of confidence and look to continue the progress we’ve been making and show our potential.”

Steve Rodgers -Team Owner

“Silverstone showed that both our riders are quick across both one lap and race distance, so we had to Oulton Park with quite a bit of confidence. It’s a very different circuit, but from the little time we had on track at the test we could see that we are in a good position – especially compared to last year. It’ll be important for Jason to bag a solid result this weekend so he can get his season started, we saw what he’s capable of at Silverstone. Taz leads the championship after a great start, so we need to continue that momentum this weekend.”