Lee Jackson set the pace as the Bennetts British Superbike Championship returned to Thruxton. The FS-3 Racing Kawasaki rider secured the top spot by timing it right to top the SUPERPICKS combined Free Practice times in changing conditions.
The opening session began in the dry before the rain began to fall, meaning the riders who had posted a lap early on remained at the top of the times, with Jackson moving just ahead of championship leader Christian Iddon before the shower.
McAMS Yamaha’s Jason O’Halloran trails Iddon by six points in the standings, and he was third fastest today, just 0.030s ahead of Kyle Ryde on the Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW as four different manufacturers completed the top four.
Local contender Tommy Bridewell remained fifth fastest as rain fell again in the afternoon, hampering any chance of moving up the order ahead of tomorrow’s SUPERPICKS Qualifying and opening BikeSocial Race.
Andrew Irwin was the fastest of the SYNETIQ BMWs in sixth place as he edged ahead of Rory Skinner and Danny Kent with the Buildbase Suzuki team returning to the top eight.
Bradley Ray and Peter Hickman completed the top ten with Danny Buchan and Dan Linfoot the final two riders to be in the SUPERPICKS 12, who will automatically progress to Q2 tomorrow.
Riders that missed out on the top 12 included Gino Rea and Tarran Mackenzie in 13th and 14th respectively, and defending champion Josh Brookes in 19th place who will need to progress through Q1.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Thruxton, SUPERPICKS Free Practice combined times:
1. Lee Jackson (FS-3 Racing Kawasaki) 1m:17.213s
2. Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati) +0.530s
3. Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) +0.563s
4. Kyle Ryde (Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW) +0.588s
5. Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) +0.618s
6. Andrew Irwin (SYNETIQ BMW) +0.722s
7. Rory Skinner (FS-3 Racing Kawasaki) +0.740s
8. Danny Kent (Buildbase Suzuki) +0.824s
9. Bradley Ray (Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW) +0.858s
10. Peter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW) +0.907s
11. Danny Buchan (SYNETIQ BMW) +0.997s
12. Dan Linfoot (TAG Honda) +1.177s
Lee Jackson – FS-3 Racing Kawasaki
Fastest in SUPERPICKS Free Practice
“We definitely timed it right today; my crew chief this morning said these might be the only dry laps we get today and with that in the back of my mind, I went out and built up then it just seemed to click.
“I got into a good little run and it wasn’t the best lap I have ever done here, but it was good enough to be fastest. The conditions did make it more difficult to get into a good rhythm because it kept changing from dry to wet in both of our sessions.
“With the limited time we have had today with conditions really one way or the other; I think there are a lot of people still looking for the setting, unless they have something from 2019. The way it has gone this year, I don’t think you can write someone to be the race winner tomorrow.
“There will be a lot of hard work for everyone in the morning in the last practice, and then race one will be a game of cat and mouse, or people trying to hold people back, so we will see what we can do tomorrow.”
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