FHO Racing BMW Motorrad Team’s Peter Hickman topped the times after the opening Bennetts British Superbike Championship action at Oulton Park today (Saturday).
Hickman set his best time in the opening session of the weekend, which was enough to keep him ahead of Danny Kent by just 0.091s on the overall timesheets.
The first session took place in dry conditions and ended as a late tussle for the top spot with a flurry of fast laps in the closing 10 minutes. Hickman, Kent and Leon Haslam all had a spell at the top before the chequered flag fell with the former top of the times.
Hickman was followed by Kent and Haslam in third, whilst Tommy Bridewell was just behind on the leading BeerMonster Ducati. All four riders produced their best laps of the day in the opening practice session.
Josh Brookes was the only rider to improve his pace later in the afternoon on the second FHO Racing BMW Motorrad Team machine. The Australian was able to take advantage of the improving conditions towards the end of the session following a light shower earlier in the day and completed the top five.
Kyle Ryde was sixth fastest on the LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha, just ahead of Dean Harrison on the DAO Racing Kawasaki, who produced his best free practice performance. Glenn Irwin was just 0.004s further back in eighth place on the second BeerMonster Ducati with Jason O’Halloran, who topped the recent test at Oulton Park, on the McAMS Yamaha in ninth.
Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki’s Lee Jackson completed the top ten with Jack Kennedy and Christian Iddon completing the riders who progress directly into tomorrow’s eBay Qualifying 2 session ahead of the BikeSocial Sprint Race which kicks off the Bennetts BSB race action tomorrow.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Oulton Park, combined Free Practice times:
- Peter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW Motorrad) 1m:35.088s
- Danny Kent (Lovell Kent Racing Honda) +0.091s
- Leon Haslam (ROKiT BMW Motorrad) +0.139s
- Tommy Bridewell (BeerMonster Ducati) +0.263s
- Josh Brookes (FHO Racing BMW Motorrad) +0.354s
- Kyle Ryde (LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha) +0.474s
- Dean Harrison (DAO Racing Kawasaki) +0.538s
- Glenn Irwin (BeerMonster Ducati) +0.542s
- Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) +0.565s
- Lee Jackson (Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki) +0.625
- Jack Kennedy (Mar-Train Racing Yamaha) +0.699s
- Christian Iddon (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) +0.731s
Peter Hickman
FHO Racing BMW Motorrad
“It was a really tough start at Silverstone, but that’s just the way things go sometimes. I was third at the test and then today we really pretty much picked up where we left off and ended up P1, which is always a nice way to start the weekend.
“I think the FHO Racing BMW is the best the bike has ever felt around here for me so I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do tomorrow. The development is still ongoing and the bike is heading in the right direction.
“The bike’s got more grip than it’s ever had before, it’s more stable than it’s ever been, it’s faster than it’s ever been in a straight line! It’s just every little bit is all adding together and the end result is you end up with a better lap time and an easier bike to ride, which is actually a really difficult thing to do here, particularly Oulton Park.”
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