Luke Mossey powered to the fastest time of the weekend as he shot to the lead of this morning’s third Bennetts British Superbike free practice.
The JG Speedfit Kawasaki man stuck in a late lap in the closing minutes of FP3 to pip Jake Dixon for bragging rights heading into this afternoon’s qualifying.
With yesterday’s rain now just a distant memory, normality had resumed as the pack headed out and the lap times went straight into the low 1’26s.
Anvil TAG Hire’s James Ellison was the first rider to dip into the 1’25 bracket, but Dixon soon clocked a lap a half second faster than Ellison to set the fastest time of the weekend so far – a 1’25.366 – while Mossey pushed the Cumbrian back a further place as he slotted into second.
Yesterday’s quickest rider Glenn Irwin soon joined the fast-men with his own 1’25, while Tyco BMW’s Christian Iddon followed suit and went fifth fastest.
But moments later, Be Wiser Ducati’s Irwin shot forward a couple places and slotted into second with a 1’25.692 but was deposed a few minutes later by FS-3 Racing’s Danny Buchan.
As the session continued, Dixon upped his pace, clocking a 1’25.255 on his ninth lap and a few minutes later, Taz Mackenzie came to life, moving his McAMS Yamaha up to fourth and then a lap later hitting second.
However, team-mate Josh Brookes was also on a charge and moved into second, dropping Mackenzie to third shortly after as he closed in on Dixon’s time, but the RAF Regular & Reserves rider soon shot back up to second followed by Ellison and Glenn Irwin, who pushed the Aussie back to fifth.
With four minutes to go, Mossey moved to the top of the timesheet with a 1’25.088 and despite attempts by a few other riders, no one could crack his time.
Moto Rapido Ducati’s new recruit Tommy Bridewell clocked a late lap to go sixth fastest ahead of Mackenzie and Buchan, while Andrew Irwin and Leon Haslam rounded out the top 10.