Moto Rapido Ducati's John Hopkins, and his team were shocked to set the fastest time during the MCE British Superbike second free practice session at Oulton Park, but it was a pleasant surprise for the American after a 1'35.092.
The former MotoGP racer was 0.09 seconds off lap record pace and even snatched the quickest rider accolade away from Milwaukee Yamaha's Josh Brookes, who was initially the dominant force in the sessions.
Hopkins fastest lap wasn't even 'perfect' according to team boss Steve Moore, and the American didn't realise how quick he went as the lap timer wasn't even working properly, but now the aim is the front row during qualifying for the opening race tomorrow afternoon.
"It's a nice way to finish a Friday on top of the timesheets. John didn't expect it and he didn't know he did it, and he did a few mistakes on that lap and we struggled to get the lap timer working this weekend and we will keep that strategy for the future," said Moore, speaking to bikesportnews.com, at the circuit.
"In FP1 we concentrated on using worn tyres so we didn't chuck loads of new rubber on the bike, trying to get a fast time in - we concentrated on working on a race pace.
"We are trying to get all our set-up stuff done today, and then this afternoon we threw a new tyre in and went fast. We should be able to qualify quite well and we are fishing for a front row in too - and why not [try and get a new lap record].
"Gio the chassis tech wants to try to smooth things out a bit, and work on the engine break - which we want to change to help the bike through the chicanes. We are trying not to set the bike up for a single fast lap, but to be able to constantly race it and that is the key for FP3."
