Be Wiser Ducati’s Shane Byrne was the fastest rider during the final timed MCE British Superbike free practice session at Cadwell Park, and with four minutes remaining he pipped JG Speedfit Kawasaki’s Leon Haslam by 0.059 seconds.
The factory Ducati man was unable to replicate his earlier quick FP2 time, as the track was much cooler this morning, compared to the humid temperatures of Saturday.
At first it was Haslam who was the first rider to scorch the timing-screens and went straight up to the top with a 1’27.235. The lap record holder was then edged ten minutes later by Mossey, who lapped a 1’27.182, and he ended up finishing the session inside the top three.
But the Cambridgeshire rider’s reign at the top was not to last as Honda Racing’s Jason O’Halloran went 0.46 seconds quicker on the 25 minute mark. But it was a case of déjà vu for the Aussie as he crashed in exactly the same spot at Mansfield, like he did yesterday. But he was able to have an authorised restart, and ended the morning in P6.
Elsewhere Haslam found some added pace to go back into P1 on the timesheets with a 1’26.664 with five minutes of the session remaining, but Byrne soon responded and went 0.95 seconds quicker. The Derby-based rider did improve his time to lap a 1’26.628, but was still not able to topple Byrne on the sheets.
The sole Bennetts Suzuki bike of Tommy Bridewell had a solid FP3 outing, and a 1'26.806 meant he ended the morning in fourth, with Buildbase BMW's local lad, Lee Jackson rounding off the top five with a fast 1'26.931.
Tyco BMW’s Michael Laverty experienced a technical problem and retired to the pits. The Wales-based rider finished FP3 in seventeenth. Meanwhile Ellison, Cooper, Iddon and the returning Tsingtao Kawasaki bike of Danny Buchan completed the top ten.
O’Halloran was not the only faller, as Dixon and Hook both succumbed to the tricky track. Youngster, Dixon did make it back out on to the Lincolnshire circuit and when the chequered flag appeared finished in eleventh, just ahead of Irwin, Hickman, Linfoot and Hopkins.
