First blood to Shakey as the Showdown decider kicks off at Brands Hatch
Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne threw down the gantlet to his MCE British Superbike Championship arch rival Leon Haslam after the opening free practice sessions at Brands Hatch, topping the times at his home circuit ahead of tomorrow’s opening race on the triple-header Showdown decider.
Byrne had been focused on leading the pack ahead of Datatag Qualifying and race one tomorrow (Saturday) and he did just that, by holding off the chasing pack following an incredibly close session where the top 15 riders were covered by just 0.8 seconds.
Byrne who is pushing for his fifth title on Sunday held off the leading JG Speedfit Kawasaki of Peter Hickman by just 0.034s to hold the advantage at the chequered flag with Dan Linfoot and John Hopkins in close contention.
Haslam was forced to settle for fifth place as the team overcame some early issues to finish the opening two sessions just 0.206s adrift of his title rival ahead of tomorrow’s crucial opening race. The ‘Pocket Rocket’ had pushed ahead of his team-mate James Ellison and Christian Iddon on the leading Tyco BMW.
Broc Parkes, Michael Laverty and Richard Cooper completed the top ten, pushing Tommy Bridewell and the Bennetts Suzuki team back to eleventh place. It was a tough start to the weekend for the second Honda Racing contender, Jason O’Halloran who set the 18th fastest time as he bids to battle with Ellison and Linfoot for third in the overall standings.
MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Brands Hatch, Free Practice one:
Luke Mossey (Quattro Plant Teccare Kawasaki) 1m:25.805s
James Ellison (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +0.062s
John Hopkins (ePayMe Yamaha) +0.088s
Shane Byrne (Be Wiser Ducati) +0.262s
Dan Linfoot (Honda Racing) +0.299s
Christian Iddon (Tyco BMW) +0.313s
Leon Haslam (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +0.358s
Broc Parkes (ePayMe Yamaha) +0.445s
Lee Jackson (Buildbase BMW) +0.580s
Tommy Bridewell (Bennetts Suzuki) +0.592s
MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Brands Hatch, Free Practice two:
Shane Byrne (Be Wiser Ducati) 1m:25.523s
Peter Hickman (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +0.034s
Dan Linfoot (Honda Racing) +0.135s
John Hopkins (ePayMe Yamaha) +0.192s
Leon Haslam (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +0.206s
James Ellison (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +0.322s
Christian Iddon (Tyco BMW) +0.327s
Broc Parkes (ePayMe Yamaha) +0.356s
Michael Laverty (Tyco BMW) +0.662s
Richard Cooper (Buildbase BMW) +0.688s
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Shane Byrne (Be Wiser Ducati)
Fastest in free practice
“It has been a good first day here at Brands Hatch for us; we have done some work on the harder tyre and also on the soft. We have done a full on race run this afternoon which is full on for a Friday afternoon but the rhythm was really good so I am happy with the day’s work.
“We are now looking forward to tomorrow and kicking off the first race of the weekend.”
Leon Haslam (JG Speedfit Kawasaki)
Fifth in free practice
“It hasn’t been clear sailing for us on the first day of the final round weekend. We are only a couple of tenths off the fastest time but we haven’t done many laps as we had a few little issues with the bike, similar to what we had at Assen.
“I think we know what we need to do to solve it and the boys are flat out solving it ready for tomorrow. I am pretty confident we will be good for tomorrow and keep our momentum going and give Shakey some stick in the first race.”