MCE British Superbike Championship
Brands Hatch Indy Circuit, England
May 20, 2016
Free Practice Two Results (all on Pirelli tires):
1. Shane Byrne, UK (Duc Panigale R), 45.430 seconds
2. Michael Laverty, UK (BMW S1000RR), 45.626
3. Danny Buchan, UK (Duc Panigale R), 45.721
4. Ryuichi Kiyonari, Japan (Suz GSX-R1000), 45.733, crash
5. Richard Cooper, UK (BMW S1000RR), 45.748
6. Luke Mossey, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), 45.778
7. James Ellison, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), 45.794
8. Leon Haslam, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), 45.844
9. Jakub Smrz, Czech Republic (BMW S1000RR), 45.862
10. Dan Linfoot, UK (Hon CBR1000RR), 45.867
11. Peter Hickman, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), 45.880
12. Jason O’Halloran, UK (Hon CBR1000RR), 45.929
13. Tommy Bridewell, UK (Suz GSX-R1000), 45.937
14. John Hopkins, USA (Yam YZF-R1), 45.955
15. Billy McConnell, Australia (Kaw ZX-10R), 46.073
16. Glenn Irwin, UK (Duc Panigale R), 46.126
17. Christian Iddon, UK (BMW S1000RR), 46.166
18. Alastair Seeley, UK (BMW S1000RR), 46.187
19. Lee Jackson, UK (BMW S1000RR), 46.217
20. Aaron Zanotti, UK (Yam YZF-R1), 46.324
21. Jack Kennedy, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), 46.347
22. James Rispoli, USA (Yam YZF-R1), 46.459
23. Howie Mainwaring Smart, UK (BMW S1000RR), 46.509
24. Filip Backlund, Sweden (Kaw ZX-10R), 46.521
25. Stuart Easton, UK (Yam YZF-R1), 46.639
26. Shaun Winfield, UK (Yam YZF-R1), 46.646
27. Vittorio Iannuzzo, Italy (Kaw ZX-10R), 46.858
28. Matej Smrz, Czech Republic (BMW S1000RR), 47.103
29. Jenny Tinmouth, UK (Hon CBR1000RR), 47.143
More, from a press release issued by MotorSport Vision Racing:
Shakey on top after Brands Hatch free practice as top 21 covered by 0.9s
Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne saved his best until the final minute of MCE British Superbike Championship free practice at Brands Hatch, pushing Michael Laverty into second place in an incredibly close session where the top 21 riders were covered by just 0.917s and five different manufacturers featured in the top ten.
Silverstone race-winner Laverty had been the rider setting the benchmark in the faster paced afternoon session but the Tyco BMW rider was rapidly hunted down first by Ryuichi Kiyonari on the Bennetts Suzuki and then Danny Buchan on the Lloyds British Moto Rapido Ducati.
The session ended prematurely for Kiyonari though when he crashed out at Graham Hill Bend, breaking his left clavicle (collarbone) and he will be sidelined for the remainder of the weekend.
Laverty was still fighting but Buchan had closed to within 0.095s in the closing stages as the pair pushed to end the opening day fastest. However a last lap run from the record-breaking four-time champion put Byrne back on top at his home circuit ahead of Laverty and Buchan with Kiyo still holding fourth position after his earlier time.
Richard Cooper continued his strong momentum from his race-winning performance at the previous Oulton Park round to claim fifth place for Buildbase BMW ahead of Luke Mossey on the Quattro Plant Teccare Kawasaki and the JG Speedfit Kawasaki pairing of James Ellison and Leon Haslam.
Jakub Smrz and Dan Linfoot completed a top ten that featured nine different teams ahead of tomorrow’s Datatag Qualifying session on the 1.2-mile Indy circuit.
MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Brands Hatch Indy, Free Practice 1:
James Ellison (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) 45.698s
Richard Cooper (Buildbase BMW) +0.171s
Luke Mossey (Quattro Plant Teccare Kawasaki) +0.189s
Leon Haslam (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +0.239s
Tommy Bridewell (Bennetts Suzuki) +0.317s
Christian Iddon (Tyco BMW) +0.329s
Jason O’Halloran (Honda Racing) +0.378s
Michael Laverty (Tyco BMW) +0.399s
Jakub Smrz (Smiths Racing BMW) +0.455s
Ryuichi Kiyonari (Bennetts Suzuki) +0.512s
MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Brands Hatch Indy, free practice two:
Shane Byrne (Be Wiser Ducati) 45.430s
Michael Laverty (Tyco BMW) +0.196s
Danny Buchan (Lloyds British Moto Rapido Ducati) +0.291s
Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda Racing) +0.303s
Richard Cooper (Buildbase BMW) +0.318s
Luke Mossey (Quattro Plant Teccare Kawasaki) +0.348s
James Ellison (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +0.364s
Leon Haslam (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +0.414s
Jakub Smrz (Smiths Racing BMW) +0.432s
Dan Linfoot (Honda Racing) +0.437s
For more information visit www.britishsuperbike.com
Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne (Be Wiser Ducati)
Fastest rider in free practice
“We arrived here at Brands Hatch, and like I have said before, we need more dry time on the Be Wiser Ducati to work on the setting. We started the session this morning with the bike exactly how we had left the dry setting at Oulton Park, not because that was the ideal scenario, but because that is all we know at the moment.
“The great thing about this bike and team is that we start each round with a clean sheet of paper and just start chipping away and that does mean we don’t necessarily top the sessions or generate headlines. That said, this afternoon we worked in the same way and I think it was our 28th lap in the first session was our fastest and our 27th on a set of used tyres I was still improving my time in the second session.
“We put a new tyre in at the end like everyone else did and we were able to go quicker so I am pretty happy with the progress we made today, we just need to keep working hard and make sure we follow the right path to keep improving.”
More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki Press Office:
KIYONARI BREAKS COLLARBONE AT BRANDS HATCH
Ryuichi Kiyonari has suffered a broken collarbone after a fall on his Bennetts Suzuki GSX-R1000 at Graham Hill bend at Brands Hatch today.
The crash occurred during the second Free Practice session for the third round of the MCE British Superbike Championship, with the three-time champion losing the front at the downhill left-hander early in the session.
He will now miss the remainder of the weekend and will focus on getting fit for the fourth round at Knockhill in June.
It happened after Kiyonari had posted the fastest time of the session. As the session progressed, he relinquished the top spot on the timesheets, but such was the Japanese rider’s pace around the Brands Hatch Indy circuit, it was still enough to claim fourth place by the end of the session.
Said Kiyonari: “I’m very disappointed because I was feeling really good and really fast on my bike, but unfortunately I made a small mistake and it has ended my weekend. I didn’t have enough load on the front as I braked for turn three, and it tucked underneath me. It’s gone from upright, which is why I went down quite hard and have fractured my collarbone. It is a shame because I set a quick time quite early in the session and maybe could have gone faster, I wasn’t pushing too much from the start, so it is a real shame. I’m sorry for the team because I was feeling confident and they were working hard. Now I will focus on getting fit for the next round. There is a bit of time and I’m hoping to be back for a test at Snetterton, but definitely for Knockhill.”
Team Owner Martin Halsall added: “This is a tough one to take. We had a bit of a difficult start to the season, but after the disappointment at Oulton Park we were really looking for a positive weekend. It started well, with Kiyo in a strong P10 after the opening session. We made some changes and he was instantly fast in FP2, heading to the top of the timesheets early on but unfortunately bad luck has struck again. It’s especially hard to stomach when the time he set was still good enough for fourth in the session and we had every confidence we could see Kiyo up the front this weekend. Luckily we have a bit of a break before the fourth round, so we’ll now help him focus on getting fit for Knockhill at the end of June.”