Be Wiser Ducati’s Glenn Irwin stuck in a late flyer in the final seconds of this morning’s third Bennetts British Superbike free practice session as drizzle hampered the circuit.
Jake Dixon and Leon Haslam had led almost the entire session, but Irwin’s charge beat them both by over 0.16s to take FP3 bragging rights.
Riders made their way cautiously out onto the damp circuit, nearly 10 seconds off yesterday’s FP2 pace as they had a look around. But times quickly began to tumble and with less than 10 minutes completed, RAF Regular and Reserves Kawasaki’s Dixon was the first rider into the 1’00 laps.
The top times kept dropping, but few looked able to break into the 60s bracket to join Dixon. With just over 35 minutes left, however Andrew Irwin clocked a 1’00.887 and moments later Honda Racing's Dan Linfoot joined him with a 1’00.984.
McAMS Yamaha's Josh Brookes popped in a 1’00.674 to go second fastest a few minutes later, while Richard Cooper slotted in just behind him on the timesheets with a 1’00.836. With just over half the session remaining, JG Speedfit Kawasaki's Haslam took over the top spot as Christian Iddon followed him up the order to go second quickest.
Dixon shot back into the lead with 12 minutes to go and became the first rider to break the 60s barrier with a 59.940s before dropping it to a 59.893, but Haslam pipped him by 0.011s for the top spot and clocked a 59.776s to bolster his standing.
But with a minute to go, Glenn Irwin grabbed the lead with a 59.608, shoving Haslam and Dixon back to second and third before the Ducati man suffered a technical problem at turn two.
Jason O’Halloran was the only other rider in the 59s bracket as he finished fourth ahead of Tyco BMW boys Iddon and Michael Laverty, while Brookes finished seventh.
Fellow Yamaha rider Taz Mackenzie, Andrew Irwin and Buildbase Suzuki’s Cooper completed the top-10.
Movuno.com Halsall Suzuki’s Tom Neave was one of the early casualties as he crashed at Brooklands.