Shane 'Shakey' Byrne set the pace in the heat of the opening MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship session at Snetterton this morning, but the Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki rider was closed in by Milwaukee Yamaha's Josh Brookes on his final lap.

Byrne had set the lap earlier in the session as he edged out Ryuichi Kiyonari to the top of the times with the Buildbase BMW rider holding second until a frantic final five minutes of the opening free practice session.

Lloyds British GBmoto Racing Kawasaki's Chris Walker was the first to leap up the timesheets and with just under five minutes to go he pushed himself second fastest, but was displaced from the top a few laps later by Brookes.

Honda Racing marked their return to the Championship with fourth place for Julien Da Costa as the Frenchman started their weekend positively by pushing Kiyonari to fifth ahead of his team-mate James Westmoreland.

John Hopkins was running as high as third for Tyco Suzuki during the session but towards the end a crash at Montreal ended his session although he was unhurt. Jakub Smrz was eighth fastest for the Millsport Ducati despite a technical issue in the final stages with Patric Muff and Tommy Bridewell completing the top ten.

MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Snetterton, free practice one result:

Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) 1m:48.900s
Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha) +0.370s
Chris Walker (Lloyds British GBmoto Racing Kawasaki) +0.627s
Julien Da Costa (Honda Racing) +0.701s
Ryuichi Kiyonari (Buildbase BMW) +0.782s
James Westmoreland (Buildbase BMW) +1.055s
John Hopkins (Tyco Suzuki) +1.124s
Jakub Smrz (Millsport Ducati) +1.126s
Patric Muff (Bathams BMW) +1.152s
Tommy Bridewell (Milwaukee Yamaha) +1.306s



.