PBM Kawasaki’s Shane Byrne left it till there were only 60 seconds remaining to the final MCE British Superbike free practice session at Donington Park to snatch the top spot on the sheets from title rival, Buildbase BMW’s Ryuichi Kiyonari.
The Japanese rider topped the sheets after only ten minutes of being out on track, after a super quick 1’29.964, and for a time it looked like the triple-champ had securely cemented his place as the quickest rider overall. But Byrne shaved one tenth off Kiyo’s best time with his only lap inside the 1’29’s – a 1’29.874, and was only 0.2 off lap record pace.
In the last three minutes Milwaukee Yamaha’s Josh Brookes catapulted his R1 to third quickest, and had a late charge on the top of the timing screens, after spending some of the session in the pits. The Bringelly rider was only two tenths off a time inside the 1’29’s, and at the flag had to settle for a 1’20.163.
Initially it was Kiyonari who was the first rider to lap inside the 1’29 bracket after 15 minutes out on track, with a 1’29.964 – which was his target set by his crew yesterday. His team-mate Lee Jackson did not fare so well, he crashed out after only four laps but was unhurt.
Hot on Kiyo’s heels were the PBM Kawasaki duo of Byrne and Easton, the reigning champ was only a tenth slower with 17 minutes remaining. On the 15 minute mark Honda Racing’s Dan Linfoot soared up to third fastest overall with a 1’30.334, pushing Easton back down to fourth, but Brookes soon muscled in on the party, pulling Linfoot and Easton down the timing screens to round off the top five.
JG Speedfit Kawasaki’s James Ellison ended the morning sixth quickest, followed closely by Quattro Plant Kawasaki’s Luke Mossey and BE Wiser Kawasaki’s Danny Buchan.
The yellow flags came out in sector 2 after JG Speedfit Kawasaki’s James Westmoreland crashed while inside the top ten quickest times at Mcleans, but was declared OK at the trackside, with only a handful of minutes remaining. But even with a fall Westmoreland managed to cling on to ninth quickest, with Smiths BMW’s Billy McConnell completing the top ten.
Even after their crashes both Jackson, Westmoreland were unhurt, and both them and their bikes will be ready for qualifying later this afternoon.
Only the fastest 30 riders from all three free practice sessions can progress through to Q1 this afternoon, and this means that Taylor Mackenzie, David Johnson, Aaron Zanotti, Jenny Tinmouth and Rhalf Lo Turco miss out on fighting for pole. Moto Rapido Duacati’s Jakub Smrz was blighted by technical problems yesterday and did not go out in FP3, and has to start from P31 for race one tomorrow.
