Free practice one:
- James Ellison (Lloyds British GBmoto Racing Kawasaki) 1m:36.289s
- Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) +0.005s
- Stuart Easton (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) +0.340s
- Ryuichi Kiyonari (Buildbase BMW) +0.953s
- Chris Walker (Lloyds British GBmoto Racing Kawasaki) +1.081s
- Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha) +1.087s
Free practice two:
- Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha) 1m:35.497s
- Stuart Easton (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) +0.236s
- Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) +0.803s
- James Ellison (Lloyds British GBmoto Racing Kawasaki) +0.808s
- Richard Cooper (Anvil Hire TAG Kawasaki) +0.831s
- Jakub Smrz (Millsport Ducati) +0.982s
Josh Brookes closed in on the Oulton Park lap record to eclipse Stuart Easton on his final lap of free practice to set the fastest time of the day as he prepared for the Bank Holiday Monday second round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship at the Cheshire circuit.
The Australian had been building his pace throughout the opening session on the Milwaukee Yamaha and his last lap of the day was enough to fire him back to the top of the timesheets ahead of tomorrow’s Datatag Extreme Qualifying session.
Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki’s Easton made Brookes work hard for the top spot, setting the fastest lap with barely a minute remaining, only for the Milwaukee Yamaha rider to put in a stunning final lap of 1m 35.855secs to regain top spot.
Brookes said: “The first session was difficult to get a smooth rhythm, but we made changes to the bike for the afternoon and immediately we made a big step forwards. Then we chipped away making more little changes and got me more comfortable so I am happy to end the day on top.”
Three times title champion and Brands Hatch double race winner, Shane Byrne, had started the second session strongly and was fastest after completing seven laps, but then was left frustrated by an electronics issue to his Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki that sidelined him.
Despite not completing the session Byrne was third fastest from James Ellison aboard the Lloyds British GBmoto Kawasaki, who had topped Byrne in the opening session by just 0.005s. Richard Cooper on the Anvil Hire TAG Kawasaki, was only a split second down on them to be fifth fastest, from Czech Republic rider Jakub Smrz on the Millsport Ducati.
Chris Walker, a winner in the corresponding round of two years ago, was seventh fastest on the second Lloyds British GBmoto Kawasaki ahead of triple title winner Ryuichi Kiyonari on the Buildbase BMW. Tommy Bridewell and James Westmoreland completed the top ten.
Josh Waters was 12th quickest on the Tyco Suzuki, four places ahead of teammate John Hopkins. Mitchell Carr was 24th out of the 28 rider field.
Milwaukee Yamaha Report
The Milwaukee Yamaha team started the second round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship strongly today as Josh Brookes set the pace at the end of the opening two free practice sessions whilst Tommy Bridewell finished ninth.
The opening session saw Brookes end sixth fastest whilst Bridewell was only able to complete four laps before his opening free practice was ended early with a technical problem. The team worked hard between the sessions and this afternoon Brookes stormed to the top of the timesheets, whilst Bridewell overcame missing out on track time this morning to post the ninth fastest time ready for tomorrow’s race one grid deciding qualifying session.
Brookes said: “The first session I found it really difficult to get into a smooth rhythm. I followed James (Ellison) as I knew he had been here last week so I thought that would be a good reference, but he kind of slowly crept away from me. I didn’t feel comfortable and actually felt quite cold and a bit stiff on the bike where perhaps I hadn’t warmed up properly which was my fault. Also with the settings we didn’t change anything from Brands Hatch in the first session because I like to start the weekend as I left the previous track as that is just my method of working through everything. Those settings just didn’t suit here so we made a few little changes during the session and improved, but then most of the changes were made between the morning session and this afternoon. We made a big step straight away and then steadily chipped away with some more little changes and I got more confident and more relaxed with the bike and the lap times just improved, so I am happy to top that final session today.”
Bridewell said: “Today was ok, we had a problem this morning so we missed the whole of the first session which was a shame. I didn’t feel that good on the bike, where it was my first laps this afternoon compared to everyone else who is in reality a session ahead, but ninth isn’t bad for that reason so I am happy with that. I look at it as I ended P9 and a session down so I am alright with that. We have been working at the opposite end of the scale in terms of settings compared to Josh but tomorrow we are going to soften the bike off and get that time back ready for qualifying.”
