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.
Billy McConnell finished in 15th position. Josh Hook is battling some foot injuries and finishd day one in 23rd, two-seconds behind first placed Byrne.
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
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.”
