Shane 'Shakey' Byrne headed the field in the morning warm up session at Knockhill as the track conditions continued to improve and a dry line formed with the times tumbling ahead of today's fifth round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship.

Tommy Hill started the session leading the way on the Swan Yamaha after setting pole position yesterday, but then it was the Samsung Crescent Racing Suzuki of John Hopkins that again edged ahead.

Glen Richards was steadily climbing the order and then with just over ten minutes remaining he went fastest on the Mirror.co.uk BSB Evo WFR Honda ahead of Hopkins, Mason and Byrne.

MSS Colchester Kawasaki's Gary Mason had picked up where he left off yesterday and he then lapped the Fife circuit in the 51 second lap time as Josh Brookes moved up the order to run second on the Relentless Suzuki. A lap later the Australian then topped the times as Byrne on the same lap went second as the pace rapidly improved in the final ten minutes of the slightly extended session.


Byrne then upped the pace again, dropping into the 50 second margin with just over five minutes remaining and continued to improve to throw the gauntlet down to his title rivals ahead of the opening race where he starts ninth on the grid.

Mason remained second as Hopkins went third fastest in the final seconds of the session, likewise Michael Laverty left it until the closing moments to go fourth on the leading Swan Yamaha. Chris Walker was again inside the top five on the Pr1mo Racing Kawasaki in the final minute of the session. Ryuichi Kiyonari appeared more confident in the drying conditions and after running second in the final two minutes the last lap improvements from several riders left him in seventh ahead of John Laverty on the Buildbase BMW who was relishing the conditions.

Hill was ninth and Brookes then ended up tenth at the chequered flag, but it was disappointment again for the Motorpoint Yamaha team as Loris Baz again crashed out at Clarks with six minutes remaining and ended the session 22nd. Jon Kirkham also suffered in this morning's session and a technical problem in the final six minutes left him 27th. Alex Lowes recovered from his qualifying crash yesterday but was 15th fastest.

MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Knockhill, warm up result:

Shane Byrne (HM Plant Honda) 49.964s
Gary Mason (MSS Colchester Kawasaki) +0.399s
John Hopkins (Samsung Crescent Racing Suzuki) +0.600s
Michael Laverty (Swan Yamaha) +0.639s
Chris Walker (Pr1mo Racing Kawasaki) +0.730s
Glen Richards (WFR Honda) +0.809s
Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) +0.821s
John Laverty (Buildbase BMW) +0.850s
Tommy Hill (Swan Yamaha) +0.903s
Josh Brookes (Relentless Suzuki) +0.948s