Kyle Ryde set out his stall for a run at the 2023 British Superbike Championship title at the Brands Hatch finale as he set a fierce pace on a weather-disrupted opening day of free practice.

The LAMI OMG Yamaha rider comes into the showdown as one of eight riders with a mathematical chance of securing this year’s title, though he has a 35 point margin to bridge to current leader Tommy Bridewell with three races remaining.

Nevertheless, he sent out an early warning sign by topping a damp opening free practice session before putting almost half-a-second between himself and the opposition in the dry FP2 encounter.

Peter Hickman chased him in second place, the FHO BMW rider looking to put a disappointing season behind him with a return to form this weekend.

Glenn Irwin - who comes into the weekend as BeerMonster Ducati team-mate Bridewell’s closest rival at 7.5 points adrift - proved quicker than his PBM counterpart in third, with Bridewell making do with fifth.

Splitting the pair was Christian Iddon in fourth, while three other title contenders Jason O’Halloran - kicking off McAMS Yamaha’s final weekend in BSB before withdrawal - Lee Jackson and Josh Brookes featured up the order in sixth, seventh and eighth respectively. 

The only rider with a shot at the title outside the top eight was Leon Haslam, down in 22nd.

Elsewhere, Max Cook and Jack Kennedy completed the top ten on their respective FS-3 Kawasaki and Mar-Train Yamaha entries, while Alex Olsen was the best of four Pathway-adapted entries this weekend in 14th. 

He placed ahead of Fraser Rogers, who gave Aprilia its first BSB appearance in more than a decade in 18th, Franco Bourne in 23rd and Shaun Winfield in 27th.

Brands Hatch BSB | Combined Free Practice Results [FP1 + FP2]