JG Speedfit Kawasaki’s Leon Haslam was only 0.5 seconds off the lap record during the second MCE British Superbike free practice session, at his local track of Donington Park.
The Smalley rider lapped a 1’29.323, but hot on his heels was his team-mate, Luke Mossey. who was only 0.132s shy of his experienced garage buddy. Out of all the rider’s Haslam lapped inside the 1’29’s more than any other BSB racer’s out on track, with an impressive total of eight 1’29 laps.
But Be Wiser Ducati’s Shane Byrne was unable to replicate his earlier good form from FP1. The Panigale was back in the garage after seven laps, as smoke was seen coming from the bike and race direction observed that there could be a possible technical issue with 27 minutes on the clock. It was later identified as an oil leak. Even though Byrne spent most of the session in the pits, he still set the fifth fastest combined time.
Anvil Hire TAG Yamaha’s Josh Brookes once again excelled on the R1, and it was if the Bringelly racer had never been away from the BSB paddock. He lapped a 1’29.491 to go third quickest on the timing-screens, with Peter Hickman ending the afternoon fourth overall.
McAms Yamaha’s James Ellison went one second quicker than the first free practice session and went sixth, ahead of Hopkins, former World Superbike champion, Sylvain Guintoli, Glenn Irwin and Christian Iddon.
Young gun Bradley Ray improved to just miss out on a top ten spot, with BSB debutant, Davide Giugliano in twelfth, followed by Michael Laverty in 13th. The Honda Fireblade’s of Jason O’Halloran and Dan Linfoot were off the pace somewhat with neither bike inside the top ten, with O’Halloran in P14 and Linfoot P18 respectively.
Smiths BMW’s newest recruit, Lee Jackson crashed quite heavily at Craner Curves and was taken to the medical centre for further assessment. But Jackson was not the only rider to succumb to Craner Curves, as Tyco BMW’s Christian Iddon fell whilst eighth fastest overall, with five minutes remaining. The Stockport native was declared OK at the trackside.
But the drama was not over, as seconds after Iddon crashed, Moto Rapido’s Ducati John Hopkins fell unhurt in exactly the same spot when he was inside the top five quickest times.
