Jason O'Halloran got the jump on his Bennetts British Superbike Championship rivals in the opening free practice session at Brands Hatch this afternoon as the McAMS Yamaha rider held the advantage in the times, leading the way by 0.076s.
O’Halloran held the position from SYNETIQ BMW’s Bradley Ray who had a stunning start to his home round in second place, nudging title contender Glenn Irwin for Honda Racing into third place ahead of tomorrow’s opening race.
Luke Mossey was another rider to break up the title contenders in the opening session as he fired his Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW into fourth place, narrowly ahead of championship leader Josh Brookes. The Australian will be striving to hold on to his advantage in the standings, with 16-points between him and his VisionTrack Ducati teammate Christian Iddon.
Iddon was just adrift in sixth place with Andrew Irwin and Tommy Bridewell next up in the order as Héctor Barberá and Danny Buchan completed the top ten.
For the fifth of the title contenders, it was a disastrous start to the weekend with Tarran Mackenzie crashing out at Stirlings, and sidelined for the majority of the session. The McAMS Yamaha rider ending the opening day in 18th place.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Brands Hatch GP, Free Practice 1:
- Jason O'Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) 1m26:113s
- Bradley Ray (SYNETIQ BMW) +0.076s
- Glenn Irwin (Honda Racing) +0.169s
- Luke Mossey (Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW) +0.322s
- Josh Brookes (VisionTrack Ducati) +0.407s
- Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati) +0.509s
- Andrew Irwin (Honda Racing) +0.556s
- Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) +0.748s
- Héctor Barberá (Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW) +0.830s
- Danny Buchan (Rapid Fulfillment FS-3 Kawasaki) +0.877s