Monthly Archives: August 2013

Jason O’Halloran gets Moto2 call up to replace injured Mike Di Meglio

26-yearold Jason O’Halloran this week has received a call-up to the Moto2 ranks to replace the injured Mike Di Meglio in the Jir Team.

Now in this third season in the British Superbike Championship ranks with Samsung Honda, after first enjoying a stint with SMT Honda, the Wollongong rider has now been on the European stage for a number of years with a best result of British Superstock 1000 Championship runner-up last year.

Jason won the Australian Supersport Championship with Honda in 2007 and scored a highly creditable fourth place in the 2008 Australian Superbike Championship however his early move to the UK was hampered by a significant wrist injury that frustrated the early part of his career in Europe. This year he has been contesting the British Supersport Championship and scored fifth and third place finishes at Cadwell Park last weekend.

This weekend marks round 12 of the MotoGP World Championship at Silverstone, a track Jason has much experience at and thus is a good fit to slot straight into Moto2.

Jason O’Halloran – I’m really looking forward to the weekend. I race in the British Supersport championship with Samsung Honda so the Moto2 championship is a series I look up to and follow closely.

“It will be an honour and a privilege to be part of it. Silverstone is a circuit I know well and have had some good results there in the past.

“To be part of both the British Grand Prix experience and race with a very experienced team like JiR is going to be very special for me.

“It will be hard to predict any results just yet, as I’ve never even sat on a Moto2 machine, let alone ridden one, but I think coming from Supersport is probably easier than coming from the Superbike class. Either way, I’m coming to Silverstone this weekend off the back of two good results in British Supersport so my confidence is high and I’m looking forward to working with the team and learning the bike session by session.”

Jir Team Boss Gianluca Montiron – “With the hope of a speedy recovery of our main rider we decided to be present at the next races to honour the commitments with those who gave us their confidence and sponsorship.

“The healing time for the kind of injury that Mike has suffered requires patience and we are aware that he should return only when he will be at his 100% condition.

“Thanks to the friendliness of Team Samsung Honda UK, we will have Jason, a rider who knows the track well and the special English weather! We are all aware of how difficult a debut in a category which is hard-fought like Moto2 will be, furthermore this will be the first time for Jason riding a prototype machine, but we will provide all our know-how to ensure that he’ll enjoy himself and take this occasion as an opportunity to see up close the best riders of the world.”

Di Meglio suffered a compound fracture of the sacral bone and is out of action for at least 30 days and is undergoing treatment in France. His best result on the Jir machine was a seventh place in France, he has also finished outside the top 20 on a number of occasions this season, including in his last two competitive outings before his crash at Brno.