Danny Buchan saved his best lap until last in the opening Bennetts British Superbike Championship SUPERPICKS Free Practice session at Donington Park, topping the times in the final minute to hold off Lee Jackson by 0.217s at the chequered flag.
After an earlier shower, the track had dried out and the times continued to tumble during the opening action of the weekend. Buchan set the initial benchmark when the session got underway, before Christian Iddon moved to the top for VisionTrack Ducati by just 0.002s.
Championship leader Tarran Mackenzie then fired in a sequence of faster laps which put the McAMS Yamaha rider at the top, ahead of the Irwin brothers as Andrew led Glenn with ten minutes remaining on the clock.
Jackson then hit the top of the times for FS-3 Racing Kawasaki, edging Mackenzie by 0.164s as the final minutes counted down, but Buchan was on a roll and it was the SYNETIQ BMW rider who held the leading position at the end of the session.
Jackson held second ahead of Gino Rea who moved up the order in the closing moments with Bradley Ray also having a strong session in fourth.
Tommy Bridewell was the second of the Title Fighters this morning in fifth place, ahead of the McAMS Yamaha pairing of Mackenzie and Jason O'Halloran, with Josh Brookes completing the top eight for VisionTrack Ducati.
Andrew Irwin was ninth ahead of Glenn Irwin with Iddon narrowly missed out on the top ten in eleventh.
Title Fighter Peter Hickman crashed out at Goddards in the final ten minutes of the session, the FHO Racing BMW rider returned to pitlane, but it ended his opening track time prematurely. He ended the opening session in 13th.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Donington Park, SUPERPICKS Free Practice 1:
1. Danny Buchan (SYNETIQ BMW) 1m:29.583s
2. Lee Jackson (FS-3 Racing Kawasaki) +0.217s
3. Gino Rea (Buildbase Suzuki) +0.273s
4. Bradley Ray (Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW) +0.439s
5. Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) +0.788s
6. Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) +0.865s
7. Jason O'Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) +0.953s
8. Josh Brookes (VisionTrack Ducati) +0.983s
9. Andrew Irwin (SYNETIQ BMW) +1.005s
10. Glenn Irwin (Honda Racing) +1.009s
For the full session result please click here