Lee Jackson topped the opening SUPERPICKS Free Practice session of the weekend as the Bennetts British Superbike Championship contenders were back on track at Thruxton this afternoon.
The FS-3 Kawasaki Racing Kawasaki rider had taken advantage of the earlier dry conditions to set the benchmark time before the final 20 minutes of the opening session, when rain began to fall with no further improvement of lap times.
The top eleven riders were covered by 0.997s from Jackson down to Danny Buchan, with the top 12 riders on combined times after the opening two SUPERPICKS Free Practice sessions progressing directly into Q2 tomorrow.
Championship leader Christian Iddon held second position for the VisionTrack Ducati team, as teammate and reigning champion Josh Brookes was 19th on the timesheets at the chequered flag.
McAMS Yamaha’s Jason O'Halloran was third fastest as he narrowly edged out Kyle Ryde, as Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW made it four different manufacturers holding the leading four positions.
Tommy Bridewell completed the least amount of laps but was fifth fastest at his home round for the Oxford Products Racing Ducati team ahead of Andrew Irwin and Rory Skinner.
Danny Kent had been at the top of the times in the early stages of the session and he held eighth place for Buildbase Suzuki with Bradley Ray and Peter Hickman completing the top ten for BMW.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Thruxton, SUPERPICKS Free Practice 1:
1. Lee Jackson (FS-3 Racing Kawasaki) 1m:17.213s
2. Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati) +0.530s
3. Jason O'Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) +0.563s
4. Kyle Ryde (Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW) +0.588s
5. Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) +0.618s
6. Andrew Irwin (SYNETIQ BMW) +0.722s
7. Rory Skinner (FS-3 Racing Kawasaki) +0.740s
8. Danny Kent (Buildbase Suzuki) +0.824s
9. Bradley Ray (Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW) +0.858s
10. Peter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW) +0.907s