Editiorial Note: American Brandon Paasch, riding his FPW Racing KTM, was second-quickest in HEL Performance Motostar (Moto3) Free Practice Two Friday at Brands Hatch. Paasch’s best lap time of 1:41.874 was just behind the 1:41.506 of pace-setter Dan Jones, who rode a City Lifting/R5 Racing KTM.
Brookes on top after practice ahead of race one at Brands Hatch
Josh Brookes took charge after the opening two Bennetts British Superbike Championship free practice sessions at Brands Hatch today to lead the times in changing conditions ahead of tomorrow’s opening race of the triple-header title-deciding weekend.
At the beginning of the second free practice, areas of the track were still damp and it wasn’t until the closing stages that the times began to rapidly tumble. Christian Iddon had set the original benchmark for Tyco BMW, but a small crash at Surtees sidelined him for a short time. The team got Iddon back on track and he was able to continue the momentum to end the session, finishing third fastest.
As the final 15 minutes of the session approached, Brookes had fired himself to the top of the times ahead of Iddon, with James Ellison and Gino Rea holding top three spots, but in the final 10 minutes Peter Hickman and Danny Buchan had moved to within striking distance of Brookes to then hold the top three positions.
A light shower in the final three minutes meant Brookes maintained his position at the top of the times for Be Wiser Ducati, heading off Buchan who had moved into second and Iddon.
Championship leader Scott Redding leapt into fourth place in the final stages, 0.991s adrift of his Be Wiser Ducati teammate as he bids to maintain his points advantage ahead of tomorrow’s opening race, with Ellison holding fifth to keep Hickman firmly behind him at the chequered flag.
Ben Currie was eighth fastest for Quattro Plant – JG Speedfit Kawasaki with Rea and Joe Francis, who had topped the opening damp session, completing the top 10.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Brands Hatch, Free Practice 1 result:
Joe Francis (Lloyd & Jones Bowker BMW) 1:35.483s
Peter Hickman (Smiths Racing BMW) +0.142s
Ben Currie (Quattro Plant JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +0.417s
Josh Brookes (Be Wiser Ducati) +0.545s
Andrew Irwin (Honda Racing) +0.611s
Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) +1.255s
Scott Redding (Be Wiser Ducati) +1.943s
Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) +2.008s
Matt Truelove (Raceways Yamaha) +2.205s
Josh Owens (CDH Racing) +2.327s
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Brands Hatch, Free Practice 2 result:
Josh Brookes (Be Wiser Ducati) 1:28.873s
Danny Buchan (FS-3 Racing Kawasaki) +0.038s
Christian Iddon (Tyco BMW) +0.437s
Scott Redding (Be Wiser Ducati) +0.991s
James Ellison (OMG Racing Suzuki) +1.000s
Peter Hickman (Smiths Racing BMW) +1.440s
Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Racing Ducati) +1.626s
Ben Currie (Quattro Plant JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +1.782s
Gino Rea (Bike Devil Sweda MV Augusta) +2.085s
Joe Francis (Lloyd & Jones Bowker BMW) +2.247s
For more information on the Bennetts British Superbike Championship visit www.britishsuperbike.com
Josh Brookes – Be Wiser Ducati
Fastest in free practice
“The first session was obviously wet all the way through, it did dry towards the end but not enough to change tyres so we got a good feeling for wet conditions. It was very cold so it made it difficult to even set what was considered to be fast wet times, but it was the same for everybody.
“Then this afternoon it was quite nice that we actually got some dry track time. I mean it wasn’t fully dry all the way round, but it was dry enough that we could run slick tyres which is ideal considering that we were expecting rain so it was valuable.
“The bike felt okay in those conditions, we’ve got the set-up that I ran here earlier in the year, so we just tried something a little different this afternoon and we’ve got what feels like two strong options for tomorrow. I think I’m just building towards the qualifying and first race tomorrow.”
