PBM Kawasaki’s Shane Byrne went under lap record pace in the final timed MCE British Superbike free practice session at the Brands Hatch GP circuit, going 0.01 seconds under the fastest lap at the track set by Milwaukee Yamaha’s Josh Brookes back in 2011.
The Australian rider was out-paced by Byrne in FP3 by one tenth of a second, with the Yamaha man setting a 1’25.565 on his R1, compared to a 1’25.541 by the PBM backed ZX-10R of the quadruple-champ.
Tyco BMW’s Tommy Bridewell just pipped his team-mate, Michael Laverty to the post, as a last lap dash certainly paid off, with the Devizes swearbox going 0.2 seconds quicker than the Wales based rider - just as the chequered flag appeared to place the duo third and fourth respectively on the timing-screens.
With the S1000RR’s going quicker it pushed Anvil Hire TAG Racing’s Richard Cooper down to fifth in the combined FP sheets, followed by RAF Reserves BMW’s Peer Hickman, who vastly improved his pace from yesterday to end the morning with a 1’26.299.
JG Speedfit Kawasaki’s James Ellison, Mossey, Westmoreland and Iddon completed the top ten. Returning BSB rider, Moto Rapido Ducati’s substitute racer, John Hopkins just missed out on a time inside the top ten, and had to settle for eleventh on the sheets, with Honda Racing’s Jason O’Halloran ending FP3 twelfth quickest.
Initially it was Brookes who was the first rider to go faster than Laverty’s best lap in FP2, with a 1’26.048 after ten minutes of being out on the Kent track. But the Bringelly rider went one better and was the first racer to go inside the 1’25 bracket with a 1’25.993.
But Byrne was not giving up, especially at his home track and put down a 1’25.816, going one tenth quicker than the R1 of Brookes.
The final free practice session was red-flagged with ten minutes remaining, after a crash involving PR Racing’s Jed Metcher. The rider was declared OK at the trackside, but the delay was due to debris being out on the circuit at Stirlings Bend.
