Byrne tops close pack at Brands Hatch

Shane Byrne led the way on the opening day of the third round of the MCE British Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch, topping the timesheet from Michael Laverty with the top 21 split by less than a second.

Laverty led most of the session on the Tyco BMW only to be toppled by local man Byrne in the closing moments of the session. Danny Buchan was third, marking a strong return to form for the MotoRapido Ducati rider after missing the races at Oulton Park.

Bennetts Suzuki’s Ryuichi Kiyonari posted the fourth fastest time despite spending half the session in the medical centre after a crash at Graham Hill bend. It’s since been confirmed that the three-time champion suffered a broken collarbone and is likely to miss the remainder of the weekend.

Winner last time out, Richard Cooper set the fifth fastest time ahead of Luke Mossey with James Ellison, who topped the table in FP1, seventh and lead JG Speedfit Kawasaki.

Leon Haslam, Jakub Smrz and Dan Linfoot rounded out the top ten.

Championship leader Christian Iddon was just 17^th fastest after a fall towards the end of the session, Jenny Tinmouth, Jason O’Halloran and James Rispoli were also fallers.