Shane 'Shakey' Byrne held his position at the top of the timesheets at Snetterton however the Millsport Ducati team closed to within 0.386s in the final MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship test session this afternoon.

The MCE BSB contenders upped the pace in the final session of the day as conditions continued to improve, with Byrne moving to the top of the times to displace Smrz from his early leading position. Smrz and the Millsport Ducati team continued to impress to hold off the leading Lloyds British GBmoto Racing Kawasaki of Chris Walker who had been pushing the top of the times during the afternoon.

Ryuichi Kiyonari continued to prove that he is back to his best on his first visit to Snetterton with the Buildbase BMW team as he outpaced John Hopkins on the Tyco Suzuki in fifth. Simon Andrews and the RAF Reserves Honda team maintained their position inside the top ten in seventh ahead of Patric Muff for the Bathams BMW squad and James Westmoreland on the second Buildbase BMW. Honda Racing's Julien Da Costa showed their initial pace too this afternoon as he set the tenth fastest time on his debut at the Norfolk circuit.

The session was briefly red flagged when Howie Mainwaring crashed; the Quattro Plant Kawasaki rider suffered a dislocated collarbone and will sit out tomorrow's second day in preparation for Brands Hatch.



MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, official test, Snetterton, session three:

Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) 1m:48.713s
Jakub Smrz (Millsport Ducati) +0.386s
Chris Walker (Lloyds British GBmoto Racing Kawasaki) +1.298s
Ryuichi Kiyonari (Buildbase BMW) +1.557s
John Hopkins (Tyco Suzuki) +1.891s
Dan Linfoot (Quattro Plant Kawasaki) +2.091s
Simon Andrews (RAF Reserves Honda) +2.113s
Patric Muff (Bathams BMW) +2.115s
James Westmoreland (Buildbase BMW) +2.145s
Julien Da Costa (Honda Racing UK) +2.205s