HM Plant Honda's Shane 'Shakey' Byrne ended the second free practice session at Cadwell Park this afternoon fastest after toppling Josh Brookes from the top of the times in the final seconds as the track dried and the conditions improved.

Byrne said:

"After the problems we had this morning we knew we had a good direction to try in the dry conditions, but with the way the track was it wasn't ideal. We had a new swing arm to test and it felt really good but we don't know the full extent of the improvement until it is completely dry. So far it is so good for me and the HM Plant Honda team; I didn't go mad so to finish P1 was a bit of a surprise! It was a steady run around this afternoon and it has been all good so far."

In the early stages of the session several riders took to the circuit, with Michael Laverty leading the way with 30 minutes remaining on the Swan Yamaha from Ryuichi Kiyonari and Glen Richards on the WFR Honda.

Gary Mason then went ahead on the MSS Colchester Kawasaki with just under 20 minutes remaining of the session as the times began to tumble as the track dried out. It was the final ten minutes that there was a frantic activity on track as the majority of the riders ventured out with Josh Brookes then charging to the top of the times and improving his lap time consistently on the Relentless Suzuki by TAS.

There was also drama for HM Plant Honda as Kiyonari crashed at the top of the Mountain with four minutes remaining of the session, he was unhurt but with major improvements in the final stages he dropped to ninth.

Brookes maintained his position until the final seconds of the session as Byrne then stormed ahead to move fastest at the HM Plant Honda team's home track. Mason maintained his third position as Michael Rutter who is fighting for a top six position this weekend was fourth ahead of Chris Walker.

Tommy Hill on the leading Swan Yamaha was sixth ahead of an improving James Ellison in seventh whilst Laverty dropped to eighth in the final minutes. Patric Muff meanwhile outpaced his WFR Honda rivals to be the fastest Mirror.co.uk BSB Evo rider on circuit in tenth on the Tyco Honda.

MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Cadwell Park, free practice two:

Shane Byrne (HM Plant Honda) 1m:34.625s
Josh Brookes (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +0.281s
Gary Mason (MSS Colchester Kawasaki) +1.021s
Michael Rutter (Rapid Solicitors-Bathams Ducati) +1.235s
Chris Walker (Pr1mo Racing Kawasaki) +2.569s
Tommy Hill (Swan Yamaha) +2.681s
James Ellison (Sorrymate.com Honda) +3.214s
Michael Laverty (Swan Yamaha) +4.055s
Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) +4.857s
Patric Muff (Tyco Honda) +5.619s