Danny Buchan maintained his position ahead of his Bennetts British Superbike Championship rivals, topping the BSB SUPERPICKS combined free practice times ahead of this afternoon’s qualifying session at Knockhill.
The session was another incredibly close affair as 0.903s covered the top 18 riders, but when the chequered flag was shown it was the SYNETIQ BMW rider with the advantage. Buchan had fired himself ahead of Jason O'Halloran in the final three minutes of the session to push the championship leader back into second place.
It was a positive start to the weekend for rookie Rory Skinner as the home hero ended free practice in third position for the FS-3 Kawasaki team, just ahead of Danny Kent on the Buildbase Suzuki and Christian Iddon, who made it five different manufacturers in the top five.
Tarran Mackenzie was sixth fastest on the second of the McAMS Yamahas, just ahead of Bradley Ray on the leading Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW and FHO Racing BMW’s Peter Hickman.
Honda Racing’s Glenn Irwin held ninth position, holding off Lee Jackson on the second of the FS-3 Kawasakis, who completed the top ten. Tommy Bridewell and Ryan Vickers held the final two places in the BSB SUPERPICKS 12, who progress directly into Q2.
However just missing out on the cut was defending champion Josh Brookes, just 0.005s adrift of Vickers and Andrew Irwin.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Knockhill, SUPERPICKS Free Practice combined times:
1. Danny Buchan (SYNETIQ BMW)
2. Jason O'Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) +0.047s
3. Rory Skinner (FS-3 Kawasaki) +0.219s
4. Danny Kent (Buildbase Suzuki) +0.254s
5. Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati) +0.255s
6. Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) +0.273s
7. Bradley Ray (Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW) +0.330s
8. Peter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW) +0.337s
9. Glenn Irwin (Honda Racing) +0.348s
10. Lee Jackson (FS-3 Kawasaki) +0.356s
11. Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) +0.452s
12. Ryan Vickers (RAF Regular and Reserve Kawasaki) +0.484s
This weekend’s coverage of the Knockhill round is live on free-to-air channel Quest. Fans can stream the live coverage free-of-charge via discovery+ with live uninterrupted ad-free coverage also available via the Eurosport app