Reigning champion Josh Brookes was back at the top of the times on his return to testing this morning at Oulton Park for the third Bennetts British Superbike Championship Official Test, edging out Kyle Ryde by just 0.098s.
The session got underway in perfect conditions at the Cheshire circuit with Brookes then Tommy Bridewell having a spell at the top towards the beginning of the hour-long opener to the day. The Ducati pairing had initially led Jason O'Halloran and Ryde.
As the timer reached the halfway point of the session, Bridewell still had the edge by 0.022s from O’Halloran with the BMW’s closing in as Peter Hickman and Danny Buchan held top five positions before Christian Iddon claimed the leading position.
A final flurry of activity in the final five minutes saw O’Halloran head to the top of the times for McAMS Yamaha by 0.248s as Brookes moved into second place ahead of Ryde and Iddon.
However, on his final lap Brookes had the advantage by 0.098s, returning to action after sitting out the previous test at Snetterton, moving ahead of Ryde and O’Halloran with Hickman and Iddon completing a top five which featured three different manufacturers.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Oulton Park, Official Test, Session 1:
- Josh Brookes (VisionTrack Ducati) 1m35.347s
- Kyle Ryde (Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW) +0.098s
- Jason O'Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) +0.226s
- Peter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW) +0.488s
- Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati) +0.825s
- Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) +1.119s
- Ryan Vickers (RAF Regular & Reserve Kawasaki) +1.363s
- Danny Buchan (SYNETIQ BMW) +1.378s
- Glenn Irwin (Honda Racing) +1.383s
- Andrew Irwin (SYNETIQ BMW) +1.850s