BSB: Haslam quickest on rain-interrupted second day at Snetterton

Leon Haslam was quickest as rain ended play early on the second day of the official MCE British Superbike test at Snetterton.

The JG Speedfit Kawasaki rider’s time of 1’48.277 was enough to take him to the top of the pile as he began got down to the pace after a difficult first day on track. A number of technical issues held Haslam back on Wednesday but he came out of the blocks keen to get as much track time as possible as testing resumed with a number of parts and strategies to work on with the GBmoto team.

Honda’s Jason O’Halloran was second fastest after improving his overall feeling with the bike over the first day of the test, ahead of Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne who got his first real run out at the Norfolk circuit after arriving mid-way through Wednesday having only just landed from his holidays.

None of the top three managed to beat Michael Laverty’s quickest time from Wednesday, but all three were faster than Luke Mossey’s second-placed time – both Laverty’s Tyco squad and Mossey’s Quattro Plant team opted against running on the second day.

James Ellison placed third but felt he could have put a better time together had the red flag not been drawn at the end of the final session, with Glenn Irwin a surprise fifth. Tommy Bridewell ranked sixth on the Bennetts Suzuki ahead of Danny Buchan and Peter Hickman with Dan Linfoot and Billy McConnell rounding out the top ten.

There was a big crash for Shane Byrne earlier in the day as he locked on the brakes trying to avoid Dan Linfoot who cut across his line, fortunately the Be Wiser Ducati man was OK but disappointed to miss out on what would have been his fastest lap of the day. Billy McConnell also went down in the day’s proceedings, as did RAF BMW’s Alastair Seeley.

As the rain came down at lunch time, most teams packed up to head home but Bennetts Suzuki’s Tommy Bridewell jumped at the chance of wet track time and remains the only Superbike circulating the Snetterton track.