Relentless Suzuki's Josh Brookes nabbed top spot in the opening British Superbike free practice session at Oulton Park this morning with his final run of laps which saw him knock long-time leader Tommy Hill into second with only three minutes left to go.
Hill had been a little less than half a second faster than the field before Brookes appeared on track, first getting to within 0.002s of Hill's 1'36.987 before setting a 1'36.844 with his final circulation as former team-mate Ryuichi Kiyonari cemented third with his last lap of 1'37.006.
Samsung Suzuki's Jon Kirkham was also a late bloomer, nabbing fourth place late on with a 1'37.130 while Michael Laverty, who is showing no lasting problems from his Brands crash, is fifth and 0.459 off the pace.
Gary Mason spent a majority of the 45 minutes in third spot but the MSS Colchester Kawasaki rider was bumped down to sixth place right at the end but remained a place above his team-mate Stuart Easton as the session ended.
American John Hopkins stayed ahead of HM Plant Honda's Shane Byrne to take eighth while Alex Lowes rounded out the top ten and was the fastest Evo class rider ahead of PR Kawasaki's Simon Andrews and Glen Richards (13th overall).
