Haslam holds off Ray as top 12 within 0.8s ahead of race one at Oulton Park

Leon Haslam and the Moto Rapido Ducati Racing team held off their Bennetts British Superbike Championship title rivals after Free Practice at Oulton Park, topping the combined times ahead of tomorrow’s first race of the season in Cheshire as the top 12 were separated by just 0.808s.

The 2018 champion made the switch to Ducati over the winter and they started the season in style to edge 2022 title-winner Bradley Ray on the Raceways Yamaha by 0.041s, with the leading pair under the existing lap record.

Haslam said: “I feel really positive, we had a good test here and with everything we learned at the test, we’ve made the bike a little bit better again and have been P1 in both sessions. We’ve actually only been concentrating on the race runs and tried to put some long laps together to understand this new tyre. So it is so far so good, and we’ll see what tomorrow brings.

“Obviously I’ve been wanting to get on the Ducati for a long time, it’s been a very competitive bike and there’s always that doubt in your mind of whether it will suit my style. Is it as good as what I think, and it’s better than what I remember? It’s amazing!

“The team have done a fantastic job, but we’ve just got to stay calm and take it step by step. There’s a lot of fast guys with fast pace so at the minute we’re doing a really good job, we’re understanding the bike and the tyres and we just need to put it together for the rest of the weekend.”

Charlie Nesbitt and the MasterMac Honda team launched into the top three on his penultimate lap of the session, displacing reigning champion Kyle Ryde into fourth place on the OMG Nitrous Competitions Racing Yamaha.

Glenn Irwin bounced back from the morning session where he was only able to complete four laps due to a technical issue, to end the opening day fifth fastest on the combined times ahead of double champion Josh Brookes.

Lee Jackson was seventh fastest on the second of the DAO Racing Hondas with Storm Stacey holding eighth on the Bathams AJN Racing BMW. Danny Kent was ninth fastest on the McAMS Racing Yamaha ahead of AJN Steelstock Kawasaki pairing Christian Iddon and Max Cook.

Tommy Bridewell completed the top 12 for Honda Racing UK, as he becomes the final rider to progress directly into tomorrow’s Q2 session in the battle for the first Omologato Pole Position of the season.

Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Oulton Park, Bandero Shootout top 12 result:

1. Leon Haslam (Moto Rapido Ducati Racing) 1m:33.283s
2. Bradley Ray (Raceways Yamaha) +0.041s
3. Charlie Nesbitt (MasterMac Honda) +0.437s
4. Kyle Ryde (OMG Nitrous Competitions Racing Yamaha) +0.568s
5. Glenn Irwin (Hager PBM Ducati) +0.577s
6. Josh Brookes (DAO Racing Honda) +0.624s
7. Lee Jackson (DAO Racing Honda) +0.655s
8. Storm Stacey (Bathams AJN Racing BMW) +0.714s
9. Danny Kent (McAMS Racing Yamaha) +0.737s
10. Christian Iddon (AJN Steelstock Kawasaki) +0.782s
11. Max Cook (AJN Steelstock Kawasaki) +0.789s
12. Tommy Bridewell (Honda Racing UK) +0.808s

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