Glenn Irwin took the advantage on the opening day of Bennetts British Superbike Championship action at the Brands Hatch season finale holding off his title rivals Kyle Ryde and Tommy Bridewell in Free Practice, maintaining an edge of 0.243s at the chequered flag.
Irwin’s time put him just 0.026s adrift of the existing lap record for Hager PBM Ducati as he held off Ryde and Bridewell as the trio are set to go head-to-head for the title on the Grand Prix circuit this weekend.
Andrew Irwin had a strong start to his weekend in fourth place, jumping ahead of Josh Brookes in the closing stages of the second session. Charlie Nesbitt was just 0.010s adrift for MasterMac Honda with Danny Kent and Lee Jackson separated by just 0.001s for seventh and eighth place respectively.
Danny Buchan returned to action for DAO Racing Kawasaki in ninth place ahead of Max Cook, Ryan Vickers and Peter Hickman, who completed the top 12 riders through to tomorrow’s Speedy Hire Q2 session.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Brands Hatch, Free Practice combined result:
- Glenn Irwin (Hager PBM Ducati) 1m24.899s
- Kyle Ryde (OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing) +0.243s
- Tommy Bridewell (Honda Racing UK) +0.582s
- Andrew Irwin (Honda Racing UK) +0.641s
- Josh Brookes (FHO Racing BMW Motorrad) +0.709s
- Charlie Nesbitt (MasterMac Honda) +0.719s
- Danny Kent (McAMS Racing Yamaha) +0.871s
- Lee Jackson (MasterMac Honda) +0.872s
- Danny Buchan (DAO Racing Kawasaki) +0.905s
- Max Cook (Completely Motorbikes Kawasaki) +0.927s
- Ryan Vickers (OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing) +0.951s
- Peter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW Motorrad) +0.990s
For the full result please click here