Buildbase BMW’s Ryuichi Kiyonari topped the timesheets during the opening MCE British Superbike free practice session, and successfully held off the charges of Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki’s Shane Byrne, at Donington Park.
Kiyonari set a 1’30.035, and knocked two tenths off the time clocked by the current championship leader, and however hard he tried Byrne could not out-pace the BMW man.
Tyco Suzuki’s John Hopkins appeared to have a resurgence, after his best time - a 1’30.592 meant he was the third quickest rider out on track. He was able to hold on to that spot for the majority of the session, to cement his best free practice session of the year so far.
At first it was Byrne who set a hot lap around the track, with a 1’30.262, with Kiyonari not far off the pace of the Lambeth born rider. But Kiyonari was not losing faith, and pulled an extra two tenths out of the bag, to top the sheets with 20 minutes remaining – with a 1’30.035 rotation.
Milwaukee Yamaha’s Tommy Bridewell and Quattro Plant Kawasaki’s Dan Linfoot rounded off the top five. Honda Racing’s development rider, Julien Da Costa finished only his second race weekend with his team in ninth, with Milwaukee Yamaha’s Josh Brookes completing the top ten.
Wildcard rider, Abdulaziz Binladen did not have his best of starts, on board his Saudi Falcons backed BMW. He crashed at the start of the session at Redgate but was declared OK at the trackside.
FFX Yamaha’s newest recruit, Filip Backlund ended his first session with his new team in 16th. GBmoto Kawasaki’s James Ellison is still nursing a nasty leg injury but managed to finish the session in 20th on the sheets.
