Smiths BMW’s Peter Hickman is feeling confident on the softer rear Pirelli tyre, after sustaining a good pace during the second MCE British Superbike free practice session.
At Thruxton, tyre life can prove problematic for many riders and the choice of tyre can be an issue too. But Hickman is content on the SCO and put down seven laps inside the 1’15’s, and even after 20 rotations on the same tyre he was lapping in the low 1’15’s.
The road racing star’s best lap placed him P3 this afternoon, after a 1’14.958 and he was only two tenths shy off the fastest time from pace-setter, Jake Dixon. Last year Hickman never lapped a 1’14 time, but he did today.
“Bike has been working really good and we need that tiny little bit to make it on to the podium. If I am fast on the Friday then we are in for a good weekend and the bike is working really well,” said Hickman, speaking to bikesportnews.com.
“Tyre life seems to be really good which is always a battle here at Thruxton, with which tyre to use and what lap time we can get out of each and for how long. I did a 20 lap run straight off this morning and was strong and we did not expect that and it has put us in a good position.
“I don’t think I did a 1’14 last year. We have just been running the soft just to see what we can get out of it and at the moment we are not struggling too much and it is all looking good.”
