Editorial Notes:
American James Rispoli, riding his Everquip Racing Yamaha YZF-R6, was fifth-fastest in British Supersport FP2 with a time of 1:39.084. Jack Kennedy set the fastest time in the session, a 1:37.920, on an Integro Yamaha YZF-R6.
American Brandon Paasch, riding his Microlise Cresswell Racing Mahindra, was third-fastest in British Motostar FP2 with a time of 1:45.654. Jake Archer set the fastest time in the session, a 1:45.140, on his City Lifting/R5 Racing KTM.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship
Oulton Park, England
May 5, 2018
Free Practice Two Results (all on Pirelli tires):
1. Shane Byrne, UK (Ducati), 1:34.868
2. Josh Brookes, Australia (Yamaha), 1:34.983
3. Leon Haslam, UK (Kawasaki), 1:35.094
4. Jake Dixon, UK (Kawasaki), 1:35.278
5. Taylor Mackenzie, UK (Ducati), 1:35.323
6. Bradley Ray, UK (Suzuki), 1:35.329
7. Glenn Irwin, UK (Ducati), 1:35.408
8. Luke Mossey, UK (Kawasaki), 1:35.527
9. Danny Buchan, UK (Kawasaki), 1:35.605
10. Peter Hickman, UK (BMW), 1:35.616
11. Richard Cooper, UK (Suzuki), 1:35.696
12. Jason O’Halloran, UK (Honda), 1:35.802
13. Tarran Mackenzie, UK (Yamaha), 1:35.868
14. Tommy Bridewell, UK (Suzuki), 1:35.951
15. Michael Laverty, UK (BMW), 1:35.951
16. James Ellison, UK (Yamaha), 1:36.067
17. Gino Rea, UK (Suzuki), 1:36.069
18. Martin Jessopp, UK (BMW), 1:36.320
19. Christian Iddon, UK (BMW), 1:36.379
20. Mason Law, UK (Kawasaki), 1:36.443
21. Jakub Smrz, Czech Republic (BMW), 1:36.463
22. Kyle Ryde, UK (Yamaha), 1:36.938
23. Ryuichi Kiyonari, Japan (Honda), 1:37.135
24. Dean Harrison, UK (Kawasaki), 1:37.386
25. Sylvain Barrier, France (BMW), 1:37.601
26. David Johnson, Australia (BMW), 1:38.447
27. Carl Phillips, UK (Kawasaki), 1:38.774
28. Connor Cummins, UK (Honda), 1:39.350
29. Shaun Winfield, UK (Yamaha), 1:39.531
More, from a press release issued by MotorSport Vision Racing:
Shakey leads as Brookes closes in ahead of Oulton Park qualifying
Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne edged back to the top of the free practice times at Oulton Park this afternoon, holding off arch rival Josh Brookes by 0.115s ahead of Bank Holiday Monday’s third round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship.
Byrne had been nudged to second in the opening session with just 0.008s separating him and Honda Racing’s Jason O’Halloran, who was twelfth fastest this afternoon – with just 0.934s between him and the pace-setting time.
Brookes had been making a resurgence following a positive test last week at the Cheshire circuit and the McAMS Yamaha rider progressively moved up the order, running exactly the same lap time as Byrne before the defending champion upped the pace. The Australian’s improvement pushed Leon Haslam back into second place in the closing stages.
Jake Dixon proved his pace again in the second session running fourth fastest for the RAF Regular & Reserves Kawasaki team, narrowly ahead of an improving Taylor Mackenzie who powered the Moto Rapido Ducati into the top five, just 0.006s adrift of Dixon.
Championship leader Bradley Ray was sixth fastest but admitted he has more to come in Datatag Qualifying tomorrow for the Buildbase Suzuki team, but he held off the improving Glenn Irwin on the second of the Be Wiser Ducatis.
Luke Mossey posted the eighth fastest time, to keep himself ahead of Danny Buchan and Peter Hickman who completed the top ten.
Ryuichi Kiyonari posted the 23rd fastest time, improving his pace by 0.697s over the two sessions on the second of the Honda Racing Fireblades.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Oulton Park, Free Practice one:
1.Jason O’Halloran (Honda Racing) 1m:35.030s
2.Shane Byrne (Be Wiser Ducati) +0.008s
3.Richard Cooper (Buildbase Suzuki) +0.125s
4.Leon Haslam (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +0.234s
5.Peter Hickman (Smiths Racing BMW) +0.239s
6.Josh Brookes (McAMS Yamaha) +0.309s
7.Glenn Irwin (Be Wiser Ducati) +0.311s
8.Tommy Bridewell (Movuno.com Halsall Racing Suzuki) +0.367s
9.Christian Iddon (Tyco BMW) +0.543s
10.Jake Dixon (RAF Regular & Reserves Kawasaki) +0.626s
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Oulton Park, Free Practice two:
1.Shane Byrne (Be Wiser Ducati) 1m:34.868s
2.Josh Brookes (McAMS Yamaha) +0.115s
3.Leon Haslam (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +0.226s
4.Jake Dixon (RAF Regular & Reserves Kawasaki) +0.410s
5.Taylor Mackenzie (Moto Rapido Ducati) +0.455s
6.Bradley Ray (Buildbase Suzuki) +0.461s
7.Glenn Irwin (Be Wiser Ducati) +0.540s
8.Luke Mossey (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +0.659s
9.Danny Buchan (FS-3 Racing Kawasaki) +0.737s
10.Peter Hickman (Smiths Racing BMW) +0.748s
The next round of the 2018 Bennetts British Superbike Championship take place at Oulton Park on May 5/6/7. For more information visit www.britishsuperbike.com
Shane Byrne
(Be Wiser Ducati)
“We were fast this afternoon but it was a really, really frustrating session. We had some problems with the bike in that session and the bike developed a lot of chatter and around Oulton Park that’s never a good thing. There’s a lot of places here when you run on the side of the tyre really, really fast into corners and you need the thing to be on point to steer and to be able to pick the gas up and I was really, really struggling.
“We put a new pair of wheels in just to see whether or not that would fix the chatter, and to a certain degree it did but to a certain degree it didn’t. Then literally one lap into those pair of tyres the red flag came out anyway, so it’s been a bit of an inconclusive afternoon.
“I had very high expectations for this afternoon because this morning went well but that’s racing and that’s what practice is all about. It’s better to find problems today or tomorrow than it is to find them on Monday morning.
“So overall we’ve been second and first in both sessions so it’s a positive start but we’ve certainly got a little bit of work to do to get to the bottom of why we’ve started developing these issues.”