Swan Yamaha's Tommy Hill waited until his final lap of the second British Superbike free practice session at Snetterton this afternoon to take top spot with this morning's leader John Hopkins in second and a resurgent Josh Brookes taking third place and only a quarter of a second off the pace.
Hill did 15 laps of the Norfolk circuit before setting his 1'48.866 which was enough to demote Hopkins while Brookes found some serious pace to go round in 1'49.119. Motorpoint Yamaha's Loris Baz had been third until Hill's last lap but still finds himself in fourth on a 1'49.183.
Baz's team-mate James Westmoreland slipped down to fifth after sitting in second for a while the second Swan Yamaha of Michael Laverty, who was fastest here in pre-season testing, ended the session in sixth, just ahead of MSS Kawasaki's Mason.
HM Plant Honda's Shane Byrne led for most of the 50 minutes but finds himself in eighth with Michael Rutter ninth and team-mate Ryuichi Kiyonari rounding out the top ten. Jon Kirkham is 11th, Alex Lowes 12th and Graeme Gowland in 13th and fastest of the Evo bikes.
Glen Richards, on the WFR Honda, is second of the Evos and 17th overall while Scott Smart is one place behind. Peter Hickman became the first man to crash at Agostini corner just after the chequered flag came out.
