HM Plant Honda's Shane Byrne left it until his final lap to set the fastest time in the second British Superbike free practice session at Cadwell Park ousting Josh Brookes after torrential rain and then bright sunshine made for a quickly-drying track.
Brookes had gone top with a 1'34.906 and was more than two seconds faster than the field but Byrne just managed to pull ahead, lapping in 1'34.625 with the MSS Colchester Kawasaki of Gary Mason in third. Mason had topped the timesheets for a good portion of the 50 minutes but slipped back before putting in a late charge.
Rapid Ducati's Michael Rutter also put in a last-ditch effort on a slick to go fourth fastest head of fellow veteran Chris Walker on the Primo Kawasaki. This morning's fastest man, Tommy Hill, slipped back to sixth ahead of James Ellison on the Sorrymate.com Honda.
Swan Yamaha's Michael Laverty was eighth fastest with Ryuichi Kiyonari in ninth. The Japanese rider walked away from a crash on the top of The Mountain which put him out of the session. Patric Muff was the leading Evo rider in 10th overall with Glen Richards and Graeme Gowland directly behind him.
