Kyle Ryde and reigning Champions LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha was back at the top of the Free Practice times following the opening Bennetts British Superbike Championship sessions at Knockhill today, edging out Yamaha rival Jason O’Halloran in the closing stages.
The pace was intense with the top 22 riders covered by just 0.898s.
Ryde improved his pace in the warmer afternoon conditions to move 0.181s ahead of O’Halloran in the final stages of the second session.
The McAMS Yamaha team had a busy afternoon as a crash for the Australian meant they faced a race against time to repair the damage to get him back on track before the end of the session.
However, with two minutes to spare, he was able to return to the circuit, completing a single flying lap before the chequered flag.
Glenn Irwin was the fastest of the BeerMonster Ducatis in third place, 0.192s adrift of Ryde as he bids to regain the advantage in the standings this weekend from his teammate Tommy Bridewell.
Bridewell also had a crash in the early stages of the session, but the BeerMonster Ducati team also worked hard to repair the damage to get him back out in the second half of the session and he completed the top ten riders on combined times.
Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki were back inside the top five as Lee Jackson surged up the order to hold fourth place, narrowly ahead of the leading FHO Racing BMW Motorrad Team rider Josh Brookes in fifth to make it four different manufacturers in the top five positions.
Christian Iddon was sixth fastest for Oxford Products Racing Ducati, setting the exact same lap time as Brookes, moving ahead of Danny Buchan in the afternoon with Ryan Vickers completing the top eight.
Charlie Nesbitt secured his place in eBay Q2 tomorrow for the MasterMac Honda by Hawk Racing Team, with Leon Haslam and Storm Stacey completing the top 12 riders ahead of tomorrow’s eBay Qualifying and BikeSocial Sprint Race.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Knockhill, Free Practice combined times:
- Kyle Ryde (LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha) 47.553s
- Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) +0.181s
- Glenn Irwin (BeerMonster Ducati) +0.192s
- Lee Jackson (Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki) +0.205s
- Josh Brookes (FHO Racing BMW Motorrad Team) +0.295s
- Christian Iddon (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) +0.295s
- Danny Buchan (SYNETIQ BMW) +0.327s
- Ryan Vickers (LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha) +0.329s
- Charlie Nesbitt (MasterMac Honda by Hawk Racing) +0.386s
- Tommy Bridewell (BeerMonster Ducati) +0.387s
- Leon Haslam (ROKiT BMW Motorrad) +0.392s
- Storm Stacey (Starline Racing Kawasaki) +0.533s
Kyle Ryde
LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha
“It’s nice to be able to come back to a difficult track for me in the past on the same bike as last year. I feel good with the bike, obviously its great to bring confidence from the test into the first day with the result being fastest.
“We need to keep the ball rolling now for tomorrow; the lap times were coming on stronger at the end of the session. My confidence is a lot higher than what it was here last year and I feel a lot better on the bike than what I did last year too.
“Obviously its great to be fastest today, but I have to battle hard tomorrow to get a good qualifying position and hopefully a strong race, to set us up for Sunday.
“It’s a very difficult with everyone being so close. Someone that could be in for 11th or 12th in tomorrow’s race could stick a good lap in and end up on the front row on Sunday. So it’s a mixed grid, just like it was at Silverstone and that was a big pack of riders in the group. It is going to be close tomorrow!”
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