PACY BROOKES DIALLED IN FOR ACTION REPLAY Round nine Cadwell Park 29/30 August MCE INSURANCE BRITISH SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP Josh Brookes enjoyed a winning ride last time out at Cadwell Park and now the HM Plant Honda rider is dialled in for an action replay after setting the pace in opening free practice for the Holiday Monday ninth round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship at the Lincolnshire circuit. The Aussie, refreshed from a break back home with his family, is aiming for double top in these races to take the lead in the title stakes and he showed that determination by running half a second faster than the rest, who were led by MSS Colchester Kawasaki rider Simon Andrews. “I want two good races so I can get back to the top of the standings,” said Brookes, currently third overall in the points, adding “going back home for a holiday always sparks me up.” That was underlined as he powered in a lap of 1m 27.945secs, an average speed of 89.23mph. Andrews surprised the front-runners in the title chase with his consistent speed across the two sessions, topping the first leaderboard, and in each he was marginally faster than the series leading, former two times British champion, Ryuichi Kiyonari, who like his team-mate Brookes was a winner at Cadwell Park in the fourth round. Kiyonari’s best lap came in 1m 28.607secs, just 0.018secs up on the rider whom he leads by seven points in the standings,Tommy Hill, aboard the Worx Crescent Suzuki. Brookes goes into the races three points down on Hill. Michael Rutter was fifth fastest, with a lap in 1m 28.693secs on the RidersMotorcycles.com Ducati, some 0.277secs up on Gary Mason aboard the second MSS Colchester Kawasaki with Yukio Kagayama easing his Worx Suzuki into seventh place at the expense of Relentless Suzuki’s Michael Laverty. These races come at a crucial time in the championship, with the top six in the standings qualifying for the “Showdown” over the final seven races of the season. Already, Kiyonari, Hill, Brookes, Rutter and Michael Laverty are “title-fighters,” with three riders scrapping for the one remaining place. They face an intense duel for supremacy. Stuart Easton, aboard the Swan Honda, was the fastest of them with a lap in 1m 29.306secs, but, the Flying Scot knows that he needs to take race wins to have a realistic chance of making the cut. John Laverty riding Buildbase Kawasaki, was just down on Easton, 1m 29.602secs while Alastair Seeley, the rider currently occupying the sixth place in the points standings, lapped in 1m 29.867secs. After these races, the top six riders have their current points scores cancelled, and replaced with 500 points each, to which are added “podium credit” points reflecting their top three finishes across the opening 19 races of the series, adding to the determination of Brookes to win at his Louth based team’s local circuit. Steve Brogan reckons he is well placed to take the lead in the chase for the Mirror.co.uk BSB-EVO class having run fastest in class in both sessions, with his best lap aboard the Jentin BMW coming in 1m 30.439secs. The Liverpudlian goes into the races two points down on Splitlath Aprilia rider Hudson Kennaugh who had a tough time, putting in a best time of 1m 32.748secs midway through a second session spoiled by a brief rain shower. For the record: Top ten free practice times J Brookes (HM Plant Honda) 1m 27.945s S Andrews (MSS Colchester Kawasaki) 1m 28.425s R Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) 1m 28.607s T Hill (Worx Crescent Suzuki) 1m 28.625s M Rutter (RidersMotorcycles.com Ducati) 1m 28.693s G Mason (MSS Colchester Kawasaki) 1m 28.774s Y Kagayama (Worx Crescent Suzuki) 1m 28.983s M Laverty (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) 1m 29.140s S Easton (Swan Honda) 1m 29.306s J Laverty (Buildbase Kawasaki) 1m 29.602s More, from a press release issued by Swan Honda: SWAN HONDA MAKE POSITIVE START TO CADWELL PARK WEEKEND The Swan Honda team returned to action at CadwellPark today for the ninth round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship. James Ellison and Stuart Easton are now feeling positive after the opening two free practice sessions despite ending the day in ninth and tenth respectively. The conditions changed throughout the day at the challenging Lincolnshire circuit and the team’s progress was halted early this afternoon when rain began to fall during the second free practice session. However both riders are looking forward to making further changes in the third and final free practice session tomorrow ahead of the Swan Combi Roll for Pole. Ellison said: “We started with different settings to what we used in testing earlier in the year and it didn’t feel right. I was running wide and not being able to take the lines I wanted, so we sat and looked at the data and then we made some changes for the afternoon. We went out and only got a few laps in before the rain which was a shame as we had a promising start to the session. I am fast through the fast, first sector but then I need to find some time through the Woodlands section tomorrow. I feel that we are in a good position though and I am looking forward to trying some other changes ahead of qualifying.” Easton said: “This morning didn’t feel too bad in the first session and we made a small change to the ride height; we took some weight off the front and shifted it to the rear then did the lap times on old tyres. We went a tenth faster than we had in the morning and then it began to rain before we had the chance to do some laps on the new tyres, which was a shame as we potentially would have improved our times further. I think tomorrow we have a lot to look forward to and we can make some real steps forward ahead of qualifying as that will be so important here.”