Danny Buchan topped the timesheets in a damp Bennetts British Superbike Championship free practice session at Brands Hatch on Saturday morning, the Rapid Fulfillment Kawasaki rider almost half a second clear of Kyle Ryde.
Overnight rain left the Kent circuit damp all the way round with lap times almost ten seconds off Friday’s pace which resulted in only 17 riders taking to the track.
Having gone quickest early in the 45-minute session, Buchan responded late on after Championship leader Josh Brookes (VisionTrack Ducati) knocked him off the top spot mid way through and with the only 1m35s lap - 1’35.890 – the Essex man enjoyed an advantage of almost one second.
A late lap by Ryde (Buildbase Suzuki) cut the gap to 0.462s with Andrew Irwin (Honda Racing) taking third, brother Glenn remaining in the pits throughout as did other title contenders Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) and Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati).
Brookes ended fourth ahead of Gino Rea on the second Buildbase Suzuki and Peter Hickman, flying solo this weekend in his final ride with the Global Robots BMW team, and Joe Francis (Lloyd & Jones BMW) who also enjoyed a spell at the top of the leaderboard.
Buchan’s team-mate Lee Jackson placed eighth with the RAF Regular & Reserve Kawasaki pairing of Ryan Vickers and Jack Kennedy completing the top ten.
