McAMS Yamaha controlled the BSB FP1 standings with a one-two at Thruxton on Friday as Tarran Mackenzie sat top.
The reigning champion was just 0.003s faster than teammate Jason O’Halloran by the close of first practice after the Australian had dominated for the majority of the 40-minute session before suffering a late fall in the closing minutes. Yamaha continued to control the times as Brad Ray completed the top three on the Rich Energy OMG machine.
Friday action at Thruxton suffered a slight delay after a technical red flag in the opening minutes before OMG’s Ray and Honda’s Glenn Irwin vied for command as the initial laps rolled in. Lee Jackson joining the fun at the front on the Cheshire Mouldings FS-3 Kawasaki shortly after while the Buildbase Suzuki pairing of Danny Kent and Christian Iddon sat top five.
O’Halloran was soon on the low 1’16 pace as the session bedded in before teammate Mackenzie joined him in third. The Australian becoming the first to enter the 1’15’s with his seventh lap of the increasingly hot day.
Ambient temperatures were sitting at 32℃ as the track heated to 45℃ for the lunchtime outing as Luke Mossey got to grips with the iForce BMW from third in the times. Teammate Dan Jones suffering an off at turn 14.
FHO Racing’s Peter Hickman kicked off his favourite weekend on the calendar from seventh in the standings with Leon Haslam bringing the VisionTrack Kawasaki into contention neatly behind. Tom Sykes and Josh Brookes running the MCE Ducatis in 13th and 25th respectively as the opening practice unfolded with local rider Tommy Bridewell circulating in 16th.
O’Halloran advanced the pace with a 1’15.492 as the second half counted down, a full half second faster than his nearest rival and fellow R1 rider, Ray. Haslam bettering Jackson in a Kawasaki battle for fifth.
Mackenzie advanced to third as the final five minutes fired up, seventh tenths off his teammate, before taking control with a 1’15.489 next time around. Hickman likewise rising to fourth in the penultimate minute with Kent, Sykes, and Kyle Ryde completing the top ten as O’Halloran crashed out at Campbell.
