Shane Byrne headed off the determined challenges of Leon Haslam in free practice ahead of the Sunday’s opening round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship on the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit.
The two riders duelled for top spot, but it was Byrne, riding the all-new Airwaves Ducati 1098R, who came out on top, though by little more than a third of a second after the two 50 minute sessions.
Byrne, who hails from nearby Sittingbourne, but who now lives in Zurich, has a special affinity with the Kent circuit: “As well as being my local circuit, it is the first place that I ever raced, and I won that day and was given the man of the meeting award.”
He put in a best lap of 1m 26.657secs, 95.58mph, and is well pleased with the progress being made: “I am feeling really positive, the team has worked really well and everything has gone to plan.”
Byrne last won the title in 2003, also riding for Ducati, and during close season he has switched from riding Honda to rejoin the Italian marque, while Haslam has made the move in the opposite direction, joining the factory backed HM Plant team that has powered the champion in each of the previous two years.
“Shakey will be hard, but if I am to win the title, then I want to have earned it by beating the best,” said Haslam. “Having just missed out on the title twice in the past two years, I see this as a must win year and, we are still developing the bike – there is more to come.”
Cal Crutchlow, the Supersport champion of two years ago, shared Haslam’s optimism as he ran third fastest, 1m 27.532secs, just ahead of Karl Harris who was looking strong aboard the Rob Mac Yamaha, while Leon Camier, on the second Airwaves bike, was fifth, a second down on his team-mate, as they adjusted to using the Pirelli control tyres.
The introduction of that regulation was designed to level the playing field and equalise opportunity, and that was proving the case. Michael Rutter, riding the NorthWest 200 Ducati was sixth up, 1m 27.684secs, ahead of Simon Andrews, Jentin Yamaha and Tom Sykes who reckons a couple of minor tweaks to his Rizla Suzuki will pave the way to much improved times.
James Ellison, the Superbike Cup winner of 2004, returning to the domestic series after riding MotoGP and American Superbikes, ran ninth,1m 28.800secs while Stuart Easton completed the top ten aboard the MSS Discovery Kawasaki.
John Laverty headed the Daily Star Cup – the category for independent teams and riders - leaderboard with a lap of 1m 29.910secs aboard his BuildbaseNW200 Ducati while Luke Quigley ran 0.036secs down aboard the PDM Suzuki.
Chris Burns lapped in 1m 30.140secs to be third best on the STP MV-Agusta with circuit specialist Steve Mercer, on the Bob Farnham Tuning/Sondel Yamaha fourth, a further tenth of a second down.
The Superbikes have a further free practice on Saturday morning, 09.50-10.40 with the grid deciding session between 14.10-15.00. The two races, each over 20 laps, are on Sunday afternoon starting at 13.45 and 16.30.
