Leon Haslam led a frantic final few minutes in this morning's final Bennetts British Superbike free practice session as front-runner Danny Buchan crashed.
After leading yesterday's first practice, Haslam ended the day third but came out fighting this morning as he pipped late session leader Buchan for the lead before the latter hit the tarmac at Mansfield.
JG Speedfit Kawasaki's Haslam opened his account as he jumped straight into the 1'27s on his first flying lap, leading Jake Dixon and Christian Iddon with a 1'27.252.
But Buchan soon joined the party on his third lap, setting a 1'27.311 to go second before Iddon slotted in behind, ahead of RAF Regular & Reserves Kawasaki's Dixon.
Yesterday's leader Dixon, however, wasn't content sitting in fourth and became the first rider of the day to dip under the 27s with a 1'26.874 before Buchan jumped ahead of both he and Haslam with a 1'26.836.
But the jostle for position continued and Dixon went one better on his best mate, clocking a 1'26.709 to regain the top spot. As the two tucked into the pits, Haslam pipped Dixon for the session lead, just 0.036s quicker than his closest championship contender.
Meanwhile, McAMS Yamaha's Josh Brookes, Peter Hickman, Luke Mossey, Tommy Bridewell and Andrew Irwin slipped into the top 10 before heading to the garages for the first round of changes.
With just over 25 minutes remaining, Hickman found a bit of extra speed on the Smith's Racing BMW and moved ahead of Brookes for sixth before upping the ante and going fourth fastest, though still not able to slip into the 1'26s bracket.
Little changed in the ensuing 10 minutes, but with just over two thirds of the session completed, Mossey went fourth quickest though, like Hickman, he was unable to break the 1'26s barrier.
Buchan emerged from the pits and laid down a 1'26.700 to go a hair faster than Dixon and take over second, and moments later Bradley Ray slotted in just behind yesterday's pace-setter with a 1'27.072 and a 1'26.928 just a lap later.
Anvil TAG Racing Yamaha's James Ellison finally joined the party as he tucked in just behind Ray with less than six minutes to go, while Dixon jumped ahead of Haslam to take the lead a minute later.
The battle with Buchan continued as the FS-3 Racing Kawasaki rider went ahead of Dixon in the frantic final few minutes, but Haslam stamped his authority with a 1'26.303, over a quarter of a second faster just as Buchan binned it at Mansfield as the Essex rider ended the session 0.066s quicker than Dixon.
And the front boys weren't the only ones chopping and changing as Be Wiser Ducati's Glenn Irwin clocked a late 1'26.884 to slip into fifth, 0.226s behind Mossey and less than 0.050s quicker than Ray.
Tyco BMW's Iddon was the final rider in the 1'26s ahead of Ellison and Buildbase Suzuki's Cooper, while Hickman rounded out the top 10.
