Samsung Honda’s Alex Lowes stormed to the top of the final MCE British Superbike free practice timesheets, with a 1’48.316 on his final lap.

The Lincolnshire lad beat his previous time that he clocked yesterday, and this morning set a time that was faster than the lap record set by Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki’s Shane Byrne of 1’48.496, back in 2011. Yesterday Lowes and his team were experimenting with a harder compound tyre, but it appears that he 22-year-old has found a setup that he is now happy with.

Byrne initially proved to be the dominant force out on the 300 circuit, as he appeared to be the one to beat with his quickest lap of 1’48.342, but as the chequered flag appeared Lowes made his mark. His team-mate Ryuichi Kiyonari had another solid session, and was consistently clocking times in the 1’49’s, but at the end of the 45 minute session the former champ was only six tenths of a second slower than Byrne, to place him third fastest overall.

Tyco Suzuki’s Josh Brookes improved on his fastest lap time from yesterdays practice sessions with his lap of 1’49.051, closely followed by Padgett’s rider Jakub Smrz, with his 1’49.378 time. Milwaukee Yamaha’s James Ellison was languishing outside the top ten on the timesheets, but on his last lap pushed his way up to sixth fastest with a 1’49.410, his best time so far this weekend.

Rapid Solicitor’s Kawasaki’s Keith Farmer managed to stay seventh quickest, even after crashing with three minutes remaining at Hamilton, and the rider was taken to the medical centre. Farmer was not the only person to fall this morning, Tyco Suzuki’s PJ Jacobsen was the first to hit the gravel at Nelson, causing the session to be red flagged as debris had to be cleared from the track.

When the session did  re-start Buildbase BMW’s Jon Kirkham crashed at Brundle, but was unhurt. His team-mate James Westmoreland, Bathams Honda’s Tommy Bridewell and Quattro Plant rider Chris Walker ended the morning rounding off the top ten.

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