Croft British Superbikes: Shane Byrne starts strong

Shane Byrne has had the ideal start to what could be his title-clinching race weekend by setting the quickest time in this morning’s first free practice session.

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Byrne, who leads the championship by 110 points, set a best of 1.20.793.

The Airwaves Ducati man’s time is just a second off the lap record at the 2.13-mile Yorkshire circuit set by Riyuichi Kiyonari last year.

Byrne headed the two in-form men at the moment in the 50 minute session, Leon Haslam and Tom Sykes.

Haslam was less than a tenth off the 2004 BSB champion while Sykes, who was confirmed as Noriyuki Haga’s replacement at Yamaha Italia in WSB for 2009 yesterday, was third.

However, the Rizla man did have a crash at Tower with five minutes of the session remaining but walked away unhurt after lowsiding his GSX-R1000.

CROFT BRITISH SUPERBIKES FREE PRACTICE 1 RESULTS

1. Shane Byrne Airwaves Ducati 1.20.973
2. Leon Haslam HM Plant Honda 1.21.024
3. Tom Sykes Rizla Suzuki 1.21.105
4. Cal Crutchlow HM Plant Honda 1.21.666
5. Leon Camier Airwaves Ducati 1.21695
6. Karl Harris RM Racing Yamaha 1.21.795
7. Michael Rutter North West 200 Ducati 1.21.947
8. Atsushi Watanabe Rizla Suzuki 1.22.681
9. James Ellison Hydrex Bike Animal Honda 1.22.752
10. Billy McConnell MSS Discovery Kawasaki 1.22.765
11. Tristan Palmer Tena for Men Honda 1.22.812
12. Simon Andrews Lloyds British Jentin Yamaha 1.22.831
13. Scott Smart Hawk Kawasaki 1.22.943
14. Michael Laverty Relentless Suzuki 1.23.357
15. Stuart Easton MSS Discovery Kawasaki 1.23.515
16. John Laverty Buildbase NW200 Ducati 1.23.548