LEON Haslam ended the first day of the new Bennetts British Superbike Championship season fastest at Donington Park.
The JG Speedfit rider clocked a session-best lap of 1:39.690 as the track began to dry this afternoon.
After this morning’s wet session, the rain had stopped by the time the bikes headed out for FP2, but the track remained wet and at a chilly 6.1degrees.
After a relatively slow start by everyone, Tyco BMW’s Christian Iddon upped the game when he became the first of the riders to dip into the 1’41s around 20 minutes in.
But as the session headed into its final 15 minutes, times began to tumble, as RAF Regular & Reserves Kawasaki’s Jake Dixon hit the 1’40s.
With just a minute to run, James Ellison stuck his Anvil Hire TAG Yamaha on the top spot, only to be deposed by a charging Haslam, as he set his best time.
Iddon wasn’t done yet, however, as he clocked a 1:39.828 to move into second spot, leaving Ellison third fastest ahead of Dixon.
Bradley Ray continued to push hard on his Buildbase Suzuki, steadily climbing up the order to end the day fifth, ahead of Jason O’Halloran’s Honda.
Despite flirting with to top spot earlier on, Gino Rea couldn’t move his OMG Racing Suzuki any higher than seventh, as Kuba Smrz was again strong on his Lloyd & Jones Bowker Motorrad BMW to finish eighth.
Despite a crash at the Old Hairpin, Richard Cooper was able stay ninth quickest on the second Buildbase bike, as Tommy Bridewell, back with Martin Halsall’s squad for the third time, rounded out the top 10.
Defending champion Shane Byrne left it late to appear, heading out with less than 10 minutes to go and was only able to get his Be Wiser Ducati up to 13th position.