Samsung Honda’s Alex Lowes stormed to the top of the timesheets, just as the chequered flag appeared in the final MCE British Superbike free practice session at Brands Hatch. The title challenger toppled Tyco Suzuki’s Josh Brookes from the number one position after setting a 1’37.819.
Lowes was the only rider to lap inside the 1’37 bracket, with Brookes ending the morning on a 1’38.074 lap. The Aussie rider out-paced the rest of the pack, not once but twice, and looked a sure bet to take the spoils this morning on a damp track. Brookes clocked the quickest lap with ten minutes remaining, and then with two minutes of track time left to go, before Lowes went on ahead.
Brookes’ team-mate PJ Jacobsen placed his bike on a provisional front row after clocking a time that was only three-tenths of a second slower, to place him third fastest. Championship leader, Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki’s Shane Byrne was the quickest rider with nine minutes remaining, but was soon over powered by Lowes, Brookes and Jacobsen. Milwaukee Yamaha’s James Ellison rounded off the top five.
The session did start off dry, but ten minutes into the final free practice outing rain started to fall in all sectors, but soon stopped before the chequered flag came out, and by the end nearly every rider made it out on track to complete a few laps on the soggy circuit.
Quattro Plant Kawasaki’s Chris Walker, Buildbase BMW’s Jon Kirkham and PR Racing’s Karl Harris completed the top ten. Tsingtao WBbikes rider Howie Mainwaring Smart could not finish the session as he experienced a technical problem at Hawthorns.
