The final free practice session for the MCE British Superbike riders took place at a damp Knockhill track this morning. A number of front-running riders took their turn at the top of the timesheets with Bryne, Laverty, Hopkins and Iddon all showing early form.
With 16 minutes remaining in the session there was a slight lull in proceedings and the only notable improvements were that of Jake Dickson, making his Superbike debut this weekend for the Royal Air Force Regular and Reserve BMW Team. Indeed, on the 12 minute mark Dixon stuck his BMW bike on top of the timesheets with a time of 51.637 secs – almost 3 seconds off the pace from yesterday’s free practice times.
With a dry line appearing around the venue, a number of riders explored some intermediate options, and it was Jason O’Halloran who was the first to benefit from that setup; posting a 51.320second effort, closely followed by Leon Haslam who posted the fastest time of the session with 6 minutes to go (a 51.252 secs).
On the 5-minute mark, Richard Cooper powered his Buildbase BMW Motorrad bike to the top-spot with a 51.046 secs. Surprisingly, a number of riders chose not to experience the intermediate conditions – especially given Knockhill’s unique climate and that some mixed conditions are highly likely at the 1.27mile track.
However, both Ryuichi Kiyonari and Christian Iddon did try those intermediate track conditions and duly posted the fastest and second fastest times of the session; with Iddon rounding out the session on top with a 50.387 second lap.
“The track dries very quickly here, but to be honest we needed that session to be dry. We had a few things to try with the front forks. Knockhill is all-action and you need a good feeling, not just here but at all circuits, we’re just trying to make the bike as easy as possible to ride. I think we’ll try a few more things in qualifying – you get plenty of laps around here so we have some time,” said Iddon.
There were also further improvements for Danny Buchan, Glenn Irwin and Dan Linfoot; however, the main event today takes place at 16.02pm with the Datatag Extreme Qualifying for the MCE British Superbike Championship in association with Pirelli.
Tickets for the event, taking place on 24/25/26 June, can be booked online via the Knockhill website – with pre-booking discounts available on all advanced ticket purchases. Alternatively, tickets will also be on the gate (subject to on the day pricing) during each day of the event. Gates will be open early-doors and it’s advised that you plan ahead for your journey to avoid any major delays.
Further info and ticket details can be found on our BSB event webpage (see below).
