Long-time Honda man Jason O’Halloran will partner Dan Linfoot in the factory squad for next year’s MCE British Superbike Championship challenge.

The 26-year-old Aussie has stepped up from Superstock 1000, where he came second behind Danny Buchan in 2014, and will continue the development work he carried out alongside Julien Da Costa on the Fireblade this season.

“Every year I have pestered to be given a Superbike to ride and this time it was really nice when Harv and Neil came to me to ask if I would like to ride it next year,” said O’Halloran, speaking to bikesportnews.com.

“The opportunity is fantastic and it is a credit to Honda that they haven given Dan and I a shot instead of going for a big name, which is something everyone would be been expecting them to do, so we have both got a lot of work to do.

“The bike has come on a long way this year. With the development programme, we’ve had the freedom to make changes and try different things without the fear of it impacting on our position in a race or the championship. I think the team has been able to try far more than they would normally and as a result, we’re going to be very strong for the start of the season.

“I don’t want to say that I’m going to go in there and be winning straight away because I don’t want to put that kind of expectation or pressure on myself. The guys like Shakey who are the front of BSB are at the very top of their game and the level of competition is extremely high, so it’s going to be a step up from what I’ve been doing this year.

“Having said that, the lap times I’ve done on the Superstock bike have been at a good pace in terms of the Superbike lap times. My first aim will be to make the Showdown and once we get into that stage, the game changes and anything is possible. Other than that I want to be on the podium as often as I can be and just have a really consistent season like I have in 2014.”

Read the full interview with O'Halloran in the next issue of Bikesport News, out on November 6.