Tyco BMW's Michael Laverty went under the MCE British Superbike lap record at Donington Park in the final testing session at the track. The Northern Irishman lapped a 1'29.298 going three tenths faster than Shane Byrne's circuit record.
The Be Wiser Ducati rider was topping the sheets until he was pipped to the post by Laverty who left his best lap until last. Byrne did a 1'29.342 and only missed out on taking the quickest rider accolade by the smallest of margins - 0.044s to be exact.
Laverty's team-mate Christian Iddon was 0.2s off the pace, but a 1'29.928 was enough to place him P3 on the timing-screens. Returning Honda Racing rider Jason O'Halloran and Quattro Plant Kawasaki's Luke Mossey set exactly the same times, a 1'29.932, and the pair completed the top five.
Honda Racing's Dan Linfoot and Bennetts Suzuki's Ryuichi Kiyonari finished the final testing session before the opening BSB round in sixth and seventh respectively. With Be Wiser Ducati's Glenn Irwin, RAF BMW's Alastair Seeley's and Moto Rapido Ducati's Danny Buchan rounding off the top ten.
Not every team participated in the official BSB test at Donington Park. ePayMe Yamaha, JG Speedfit Kawasaki and Buildbase BMW all decided to sit out the day's proceedings and are now focusing on the opening round at Silverstone next week.
There were a few fallers out on track in the third session, including Honda Racing's Jenny Tinmouth who took a tumble at the Esses but was fortunately unhurt. Quattro Plant Cool Kawasaki's Filip Backlund crashed at Goddards and was taken to the medical centre with a suspected broken collarbone, and the outing was subsequently red flagged with fifteen minutes remaining.
In the opening session it was the Tyco BMW duo of Laverty and Iddon who were the quickest riders in much cooler conditions, with the former MotoGP racer lapping a 1'30.576. In the second outing it was Byrne who led the pack and a 1'29.963 was good enough to place him P1 on the sheets, followed by Laverty who did a 1'29.970 rotation.
