Be Wiser Ducati’s Shane Byrne left his best lap until last to dethrone JG Speedfit Kawasaki’s Leon Haslam from the top of the first MCE British Superbike free practice timesheets at Donington Park this morning.
The defending champ put down a 1’29.834, but was still one second off the pace of the lap record. Haslam did two more laps than Byrne, but was unable to break the 1’29 barrier and after free practice one had to settle for a 1’30.121.
Returning former BSB champion Josh Brookes was back on the Yamaha and proved that he was not affected by the year away from the series and ended the session third fastest overall - 0.053 seconds shy of Haslam.
Smiths Racing’s Peter Hickman looked comfortable on BMW machinery and went fourth when the chequered flag appeared, followed by a resurgent John Hopkins onboard the Moto Rapido Ducati who completed the top five with a 1’30.381.
At first it was local lad Haslam who topped the timesheets with the first 1’30 lap, but that was only to last five minutes as rival Byrne did a 1’30.347 on his eighth lap, but after sometime in the pits Haslam fought back. But Hopkins on his 13th rotation propelled his Panigale to second fastest with four minutes remaining to the session with a 1’30.381, pushing Haslam down to third. Within the dying minutes the lead at the top changed a number of times, with Brookes and Hickman joining the party, then Haslam once again set the pace.
There was a faller during the opening FP. The first to tumble was former World Superbike star, Jakub Smrz who fell unhurt at the Foggy Esses. Irwin, Iddon ended FP1 in sixth and seventh respectively, with Bennetts Suzuki’s Sylvain Guintoli making his way to eighth. The Frenchman was accustoming himself with being back on the BSB grid once again after many years away from the series as he was competing in World Superbikes.
Luke Mossey and Jake Dixon completed the top ten. McAMS Yamaha’s James Ellison and team-mate Michael Laverty went P11 and P20 after the 45 minute outing. Tyco BMW’s Davide Giugliano made his BSB free practice debut and was nearly three seconds off the pace of Byrne with a 1’32.098.
