The 2014 MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship got underway at Brands Hatch this afternoon with 32 riders taking to the circuit for the first time as triple champion Shane 'Shakey' Byrne beat off the challenge from Josh Brookes to end the opening session fastest.

The hour-long opening session started strongly for Brookes who was instantly at the top of the time screens before Stuart Easton displaced him early on with the pair switching positions throughout the first 15 minutes.

Byrne had a brief spell at the top of the times in the early stages but it wasn't until the closing stages when the Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki rider completed a run of faster laps and pushed Brookes to second by 0.125s with Easton holding third position.


Byrne said:

"Generally speaking every time I get on the Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki I have a lot of fun and I then ride it harder and go faster, but for some reason today things just didn't really click. We had a few things to test and if you asked me if I enjoyed riding today I would unfortunately have to say no, but that does bode well in some ways for when we are at that point we will find some more pace. That said, I am happy so far but there is still plenty of room for improvement."

Lloyds British GBmoto Racing Kawasaki's Chris Walker had moved as high as second during the session, however the 'Stalker' settled for fourth at the end of the opener, with his team-mate James Ellison outside the top ten in thirteenth.

Ryuichi Kiyonari fired himself up to fifth on the leading Buildbase BMW as he prepares for his first race with the team; he pushed ahead of the returning John Hopkins on the leading Tyco Suzuki. Simon Andrews had a strong return to the Superbike class in seventh after running inside the top five earlier in the session to stay ahead of James Westmoreland.

Millsport Ducati held a position inside the top ten with Jakub Smrz in ninth with Dan Linfoot on the Quattro Plant Kawasaki completing the top ten.

MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Brands Hatch, test session:

Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) 45.785s
Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha) +0.125s
Stuart Easton (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) +0.231s
Chris Walker (Lloyds British GBmoto Racing Kawasaki) +0.312s
Ryuichi Kiyonari (Buildbase BMW) +0.545s
John Hopkins (Tyco Suzuki) +0.560s
Simon Andrews (RAF Reserves Honda) +0.639s
James Westmoreland (Buildbase BMW) +0.646s
Jakub Smrz (Millsport Ducati) +0.693s
Dan Linfoot (Quattro Plant Kawasaki) +0.754s

For the full session result please click here

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