Image: Supplied.

Australian international Jason O’Halloran has welcomed his experience at round two of the 2025 Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK) in Portugal, having filled in for the injured Jonathan Rea of the factory Pata Maxus Yamaha team.

A sizable task from the outset, O’Halloran was thrown into the deep-end at the Portuguese round in Portimao, piloting an official YZF-R1 around the circuit often referenced as a rollercoaster thanks to its significant elevation changes.

Yamaha’s newly-signed official test rider raced to a 17th-place finish in the opening encounter on Saturday, before he had an untimely fall into turn one after falling victim to Portimao’s notoriously difficult tailwind, resulting in a DNF in race two. Despite the challenge, O’Halloran acknowledged the rapid progress made throughout the weekend.

“I made another good step forward with my lap times consistently – about a second a lap faster than on Saturday, so that was good,” commented O’Halloran post-race. “All the time, I was trying to adjust and adapt to the way that I’m riding the bike to try and get faster and get closer to the front guys.”

The 37-year-old longtime British Superbike Championship (BSB) contender acknowledged the importance of enjoying the experience while also obtaining useful data to help with the overall program into the future.

“The most important thing for us this weekend was just to enjoy it and for me to understand the bike and gain as much knowledge and experience as possible to help with Yamaha’s testing program going forwards,” he added.

This year, O’Halloran will line up as part of the Yamalube YART Yamaha EWC Official Team, competing in the 2025 Endurance World Championship (EWC), which begins with the 24 Heures Motos at Le Mans, France, from April 17-20.