Be Wiser Ducati’s Shane Byrne was only one tenth of a second shy off the MCE British Superbike lap record at Brands Hatch, but did enough to set the quickest time in the second free practice session.

Byrne concentrated on doing a race run out on his local track, and on the harder tyre compounds, and still managed to lap inside the 1’25’s with a 1’25.523.

Peter Hickman was the quickest ZX-10R and JG Speedfit Kawasaki out on track and went P2, and was a tiny 0.3s slower than Byrne this afternoon in dry but cold conditions, and clocked a 1’25.557.

Showdown rider, Honda Racing’s Dan Linfoot was 0.1 seconds off the leading duo on the sheets but improved his pace to lap a 1’25.658. ePayMe Yamaha’s John Hopkins was once again up the sharp end on the timing-screens and appeared to gain momentum out on the Kent circuit.

The former MotoGP star lapped at 1’25.715 and on his penultimate lap out paced, title challenger, JG Speedfit Kawasaki’s Leon Haslam in FP2. The Smalley racer was inside the top four, but the R1 edged out an extra 0.01 seconds to push Haslam down a place.

Haslam’s team-mate, James Ellison ended the afternoon in P6, with Tyco BMW’s Christian Iddon, ePayMe Yamaha’s Broc Parkes, and Riders Cup contender’s Tyco BMW’s Michael Laverty and Buildbase BMW’s Richard Cooper completing the top ten.

The fastest rider in the first session was Quattro Plant Kawasaki’s Luke Mossey, but in FP2 he fell unhurt at Hawthorn Bend with 34 minutes remaining. The new dad was declared OK at the trackside.

The session was red flagged due to a strange crash by Anvil Hire TAG Yamaha’s Shaun Winfield. He stopped on the start and finish straight and then ended up slipping on the grass, but it was only a small delay to proceedings.

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