The MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship debuted on the legendary Assen circuit this morning with Shane 'Shakey' Byrne returning from his shoulder injury to top the timesheets ahead of his Title Fighter rivals onboard the Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki.

Byrne had done an initial run of 14 laps to test his shoulder and was feeling positive after the stint on track before heading back out to complete the session and toppling Title Fighter Alex Lowes, who put his previous experience of testing the World Championship Honda to use as he led until the closing minutes of the session.

Josh Brookes moved back up the order on his final stint on circuit to go third fastest on the Tyco Suzuki ahead of Luca Scassa on the leading Padgetts Honda who has extensive circuit knowledge from his time in the World Supersport Championship. Title Fighter and standings leader ahead of this weekend, Tommy Hill was fifth fastest ahead of Swan Yamaha team-mate Noriyuki Haga after leading the early stages of the session.

Supersonic BMW's Tommy Bridewell was seventh with the last of the Title Fighters, Samsung Honda's Michael Laverty in 13th position. On his debut with the Splitlath Redmond Racing team Jakub Smrz impressed in eighth ahead of Ian Lowry and Jon Kirkham.

MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Assen, free practice one:

Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) 1m:38.651s
Alex Lowes (WFR Honda) +0.482s
Josh Brookes (Tyco Suzuki) +0.549s
Luca Scassa (Padgetts Honda) +0.627s
Tommy Hill (Swan Yamaha) +0.904s
Noriyuki Haga (Swan Yamaha) +0.934s
Tommy Bridewell (Supersonic BMW) +1.257s
Jakub Smrz (Splitlath Redmond Racing) +1.298s
Ian Lowry (Padgetts Honda) +1.354s
Jon Kirkham (Samsung Honda) +1.378s

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