Shane 'Shakey' Byrne returned to the top of the times in the opening MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship at Thruxton, but the Milwaukee Yamaha pairing of Tommy Bridewell and Josh Brookes were hunting him down.

Byrne set the pace early in the session on the Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki, however in the final ten minutes the Milwaukee Yamaha pairing closed down the championship leader with local contender Bridewell leading team-mate Brookes.

Peter Hickman fired the RAF Reserves Honda into fourth place, showing strong pace throughout the opening session to push Richard Cooper on the Anvil Hire TAG Kawasaki back to fifth. Cooper who claimed a debut podium finish at Brands Hatch dropped down the order from second place with just ten minutes of the session remaining.

Ryuichi Kiyonari was sixth fastest after he had set the early pace with Byrne at the beginning of the session ahead of local team Quattro Plant Kawasaki who were seventh fastest. Stuart Easton, Jakub Smrz and Michael Rutter completed a top ten that featured five different manufacturers.

MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Thruxton, free practice one:
Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) 1m:16.020s
Tommy Bridewell (Milwaukee Yamaha) +0.691s
Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha) +0.903s
Peter Hickman (RAF Reserves Honda) +0.947s
Richard Cooper (Anvil Hire TAG Kawasaki) +0.958s
Ryuichi Kiyonari (Buildbase BMW) +0.998s
Dan Linfoot (Quattro Plant Kawasaki) +1.233s
Stuart Easton (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) +1.359s
Jakub Smrz (Millsport Ducati) +1.537s
Michael Rutter (Bathams BMW) +1.655s



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