Jason O'Halloran assumed position at the head of the timesheets as Round 7 of the 2023 British Superbike Championship [BSB] kicked off with Friday Practice at Thruxton.

The Australian has made high-speed Hampshire venue something of a speciality in recent years having won all three races in 2021 before claiming two more during last year's event.

As such, he was quickly up to speed as the 2023 event got underway, the McAMS Yamaha rider topping both FP1 and FP2, the latter of which delivered the quickest time of the day with a 1m 15.380s effort.

He headed up the in-form Danny Kent, the 2015 Moto3 World Champion - who scored his maiden BSB podium at Thruxton with Buildbase Suzuki in 2021 - going second fastest on his eponymous Honda CBR1000RR-R as he carried the momentum through from his pair of top three finishes last time out at Brands Hatch.

In third place, Luke Mossey - another rider with strong credentials at Thruxton after scoring a first career podium here back in 2015 - was in fine fettle to put the Tactix L1 BMW up into third place, ahead of top Kawasaki rider Lee Jackson on the FS-3 Racing ZX-10RR.

Charlie Nesbitt impressed again on the MasterMac Hawk Honda up in fifth place as the top rookie, ahead of the experienced Jack Kennedy on the Mar-Train Yamaha, while Christian Iddon - fresh from his first podium of the year at Brands Hatch - ended his day in seventh place.

Of the anticipated title contenders, Glenn Irwin and Tommy Bridewell have work to do after ending their respective afternoons in eighth and ninth, with rival Kyle Ryde on the LAMI OMG Yamaha rounding out the top ten.

His team-mate, meanwhile, suffered a fall at Campbell but was unhurt, the Brands Hatch race winner down in 13th at the flag.

Other 2023 BSB front-runners to endure tough starts to the weekend included Leon Haslam in 15th on the ROKiT BMW and Josh Brookes, the FHO BMW rider only 19th.