Swan Yamaha's Tommy Hill seized the initiative in this morning's final British Superbike free practice session at Donington Park, setting the fastest lap of 1'29.827 to edge out John Hopkins by less than a tenth of a second.
Hill left it until the last minute to bag top spot under an overcast sky and Samsung Suzuki's Hopkins had no time left to get back on track. Shane Byrne, on the HM Plant Honda, is in third but more than half a second off the pace while Michael Laverty, on the second Swan bike, is fourth and another two tenths back.
Jon Kirkham set the fifth fastest lap before crashing unhurt at Goddards with five minutes left to run while Tyco Honda's Peter Hickman is sixth just ahead of Martin Jessopp's Rapid Ducati. Roswell believer James Ellison is ninth and Ian Lowry, who is making his MSS Kawasaki debut this weekend, was ninth with Ryuichi Kiyonari rounding out the top ten but 1.7s off the pace.
WFR Honda's Glen Richards is the first of the Evo-spec bikes in 11th place with team-mate Graeme Gowland directly behind him. James Westmoreland, on the third WFR, is in 13th place just ahead of Primo Kawasaki's Chris Walker.
Josh Brookes, on the Relentless Suzuki, is struggling down in 15th place while Alex Lowes crashed at Coppice and has hurt his side, according to girlfriend Amy.
