PBM Kawasaki’s Shane Byrne wasn’t going to let a hand injury stand in his way of topping the MCE British Superbikes testing timesheets at Donington Park today. The four-time champ set the fastest time in both the second and third sessions, and with minutes remaining in the final outing put down a 1’31.145, to prove to the rest of the grid that he means business this year.
Buildbase BMW’s Ryuichi Kiyonari was flying high at the front of the pack with a 1’31.375, but with minutes left of the session fell at Redgate, and prematurely put an end to his testing regime on the BMW. He was declared OK at the side of the track, which was positive news for his team.
Be Wiser Kawasaki’s Danny Buchan was able to take advantage of Kiyo’s mistake and propelled his machine up to second fastest overall, going two tenths slower than the time set by Byrne. In the end the tall Essex lad had to settle for second quickest with a 1’31.367.
The session was initially red-flagged after John Ingram crashed at Craner Curve and was taken to the medical centre with just over one hour of track time left. Soon the circuit activity was underway once again with Byrne leading the charge.
With 45 minutes remaining to the session it was Kiyo who was setting the pace and put down a 1’31.375, going 0.2 seconds quicker than reigning champion, Byrne. But on the 24th minute until the flag Honda Racing’s Jason O’Halloran fell at the Melbourne Hairpin, but was declared OK at the trackside.Once again the track activity commenced and Kiyo was holding firm on to his place at the top of the timesheets until the session ended, then he took a tumble in the dying minutes.
With Kiyo out of contention it led the way for Byrne and Buchan to go faster than the Japanese rider. Moto Rapido Ducati’s Jakub Smrz and Honda Racing’s Dan Linfoot rounded up the top five, with a 1’31.388 and 1’31.429 respectively.
At the flag JG Speedfit Kawasaki’s James Ellison narrowly missed out on a top five finish on the timesheets and fell back to sixth followed by PBM Kawasaki’s Stuart Easton and Anvil Hire TAG Racing’s Richard Cooper. Milwaukee Yamaha stalwart Josh Brookes and Tyco BMW’s Tommy Bridewell completed the top ten times this afternoon at a cold and windy Donington track.
