Shane 'Shakey' Byrne maintained his position at the top of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship free practice times at Knockhill this afternoon, holding off the challenges from his team-mate and home hero Stuart Easton by 0.311s.

Byrne had been pushing to hold the top spot and as the times tumbled in the Knockhill sunshine, the PBM Kawasaki team held their position at the top despite improvements from Josh Brookes towards the end of the session.

Byrne said:

"I think that if there was ever a day of riding that was going to be really important, it was today. This afternoon, we tried some new parts on the bike, and there's definitely some margin for improvement - but there are some definite improvements too. We say quite often that we're working in a window  - well, at the minute we're in the postcode, and that's nearly right enough for us!

"There are a lot of positives to come, and we're going to keep chipping away to find them. I want to start doing a lot more work on the bike in the run up to the final few rounds and the Showdown, because while in an ideal round I'd be picking up ten podium credits every round it's not going to happen like that. This way, hopefully I'll have a completely sorted package for the final three rounds. I'm really pleased with how today has gone, and for sure we can go better."

Milwaukee Yamaha's Brookes had his charge halted with a small crash at turn nine and although he was able to return to the circuit he was unable to post an improved lap.

Tyco BMW's Michael Laverty was climbing the order too and he moved up to fourth in the afternoon session to show he is ready to battle for his first podium finish of the season this weekend. He narrowly held off Christian Iddon on the Bennetts Suzuki in fifth and Peter Hickman on the RAF Reserves BMW.

Luke Mossey remained inside the top ten in seventh place on the Quattro Plant Kawasaki ahead of Ryuichi Kiyonari and Danny Buchan who was back inside the top ten, but it was disappointment for his Be Wiser Kawasaki team-mate as Chris Walker crashed out unhurt.

James Westmoreland completed the top ten for JG Speedfit Kawasaki as his team-mate James Ellison finished 12th following time lost earlier in the session with a technical problem as he fights the pain of his broken ribs.

Honda Racing's Jason O'Halloran and Dan Linfoot both crashed out unhurt during the session and hold 13th and 17th places respectively.

MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Knockhill, free practice two result:

Shane Byrne (PBM Kawasaki) 48.186s
Stuart Easton (PBM Kawasaki) +0.311s
Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha) +0.322s
Michael Laverty (Tyco BMW) +0.441s
Christian Iddon (Bennetts Suzuki) +0.495s
Peter Hickman (RAF Reserves BMW) +0.560s
Luke Mossey (Quattro Plant Kawasaki) +0.577s
Ryuichi Kiyonari (Buildbase BMW) +0.592s
Danny Buchan (Be Wiser Kawasaki) +0.627s
James Westmoreland (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +0.633s

Photograph by Londonbikers.com