More, from a press release issued by MSVR:
Nesbitt stays on top as nothing separates Brookes and Jackson in second at Oulton Park
Charlie Nesbitt remained at the top of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship Free Practice times at Oulton Park this afternoon as the MasterMac Honda rider remained ahead of the opposition on the opening day of the Showdown.
Nesbitt had topped the opening Free Practice session and as the times continued to tumble in the afternoon, he remained on top to put him 0.182s ahead of Josh Brookes, who built on his top five finish in Free Practice one to climb to second in the final minutes of the second session for the FHO Racing BMW Motorrad Team.
The double champion split the MasterMac Honda teammates on the timesheets with Lee Jackson setting the exact same time as his BMW rival, but Brookes’ second fastest lap time gave him the edge over Jackson.
Kyle Ryde led the OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing charge in fourth place as he bids to close the 19-point deficit to Tommy Bridewell at the top of the times, whist his Honda Racing UK rival ended the day in 12th place and the final rider to progress into tomorrow’s Speedy Hire Q2 session.
Glenn Irwin completed the top five for Hager PBM Ducati, just 0.004s ahead of Christian Iddon on the rival Oxford Products Racing Ducati as the pair bid to close in on Bridewell and Ryde ahead of them in the standings this weekend.
Danny Kent kicked off the McAMS Round of the Championship in seventh place ahead of Ryan Vickers who had a technical problem with the OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing R1, bringing out a red flag briefly in the final 15 minutes of the session and he took no further part in the afternoon.
Leon Haslam was ninth for the ROKiT BMW Motorrad Team ahead of Danny Buchan, Peter Hickman and championship leader Bridewell ahead of tomorrow’s opening race of the Showdown.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Oulton Park, Free Practice combined times:
- Charlie Nesbitt (MasterMac Honda) 1m33.703s
- Josh Brookes (FHO Racing BMW Motorrad) +0.182s
- Lee Jackson (MasterMac Honda) +0.182s
- Kyle Ryde (OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing) +0.183s
- Glenn Irwin (Hager PBM Ducati) +0.413s
- Christian Iddon (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) +0.417s
- Danny Kent (McAMS Racing Yamaha) +0.501s
- Ryan Vickers (OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing) +0.575s
- Leon Haslam (ROKiT Haslam Racing BMW Motorrad) +0.651s
- Danny Buchan (DAO Racing Kawasaki) +0.729s
- Peter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW Motorrad) +0.751s
- Tommy Bridewell (Honda Racing UK) +0.815s
For more information on the Bennetts British Superbike Championship visit www.britishsuperbike.com
Charlie Nesbitt
MasterMac Honda
“Today’s been one of the better Fridays that we’ve had. Everything has just worked together. We’ve not tried to do anything radical and do everything all in one lap.
“We’ve built up quite nicely, got a nice rhythm and I think the race pace is good as well. I’m overall really happy with day one.
“I think tomorrow’s going to be difficult again because everyone’s going to step their game up, everyone’s done a day of riding and their settings are going to be changing.
“If we can do the same again and go a bit faster, I think we’ll be in a good position.
