Quattro Kawasaki's Karl Harris has given his squad their best session result of the season so far, taking second place in the third MCE British Superbike free practice session at Cadwell Park and finishing a little under three-tenths slower than fastest man Tommy Hill.
But it was disaster for the Swan Yamaha man's team-mate Noriyuki Haga who was knocked out in a crash at Mansfield that stopped the action. He was taken to the medical centre with a shoulder injury and his team are reporting he is sore and has a suspected broken collarbone. Usually after losing consciousness, riders are not allowed back on track for the weekend.
Title contender Shane Byrne was forced to watch the action as his accident yesterday has left him with complex ligament damage to his right shoulder which could require surgery in the next 48 hours and means he is may miss the Donington Park round in a fortnight.
On the track, Harris and Hill were the only men to go under the 1'28s barrier but WFR Honda's Alex Lowes was close with his 1'28.059 in third place while Michael Laverty took fourth and is only a tenth behind on the Samsung Honda Fireblade.
Josh Brookes hauled himself into contention with his last lap, hopping into fifth and displacing Peter Hickman, who had his second crash of the weekend in the same place as Haga. Alastair Seeley is seventh, Danny Buchan eighth, JOn Krikham ninth and Michael Rutter tenth.
Showdown contender Ian Lowry was 12th behind James Westmoreland and the Irishman should now be able to get the hammer down to take advantage of Haga's misfortune and the fact Tommy Bridewell is down in 15th place on the Supersonic BMW.
