Shane 'Shakey' Byrne saved his best until the final minute of MCE British Superbike Championship free practice two at Brands Hatch, pushing Michael Laverty back into second place in an incredibly close session where the top 21 riders were covered by just 0.917s.

Laverty had been one of the first riders to set the benchmark in the session but the Tyco BMW rider was coming under increasing pressure to stay on top by Ryuichi Kiyonari on the Bennetts Suzuki who was closing in. However it was disappointment for the Japanese star when he crashed out at Graham Hill Bend, breaking his left clavicle (collarbone).

Laverty was still fighting forward as Danny Buchan climbed the timesheets on the Lloyds British Moto Rapido Ducati, closing to within 0.095s in the closing stages as the pair pushed to end the opening day fastest. However a last lap run from the record-breaking four-time champion put Byrne back on top at his home circuit ahead of Laverty and Buchan with Kiyo still holding fourth position after his earlier time.

Byrne said: 

“We arrived here at Brands Hatch, and like I have said before, we need more dry time on the Be Wiser Ducati to work on the setting. We started the session this morning with the bike exactly how we had left the dry setting at Oulton Park, not because that was the ideal scenario, but because that is all we know at the moment.

“The great thing about this bike and team is that we start each round with a clean sheet of paper and just start chipping away and that does mean we don’t necessarily top the sessions or generate headlines. That said, this afternoon we worked in the same way and I think it was our 28th lap in the first session was our fastest and our 27th on a set of used tyres I was still improving my time in the second session.

“We put a new tyre in at the end like everyone else did and we were able to go quicker so I am pretty happy with the progress we made today, we just need to keep working hard and make sure we follow the right path to keep improving.”

Richard Cooper continued his strong momentum from the previous round at Oulton Park to claim fifth place for Buildbase BMW ahead of Luke Mossey on the Quattro Plant Teccare Kawasaki and the JG Speedfit Kawasaki pairing of James Ellison and Leon Haslam.

Jakub Smrz and Dan Linfoot completed the top ten, whilst the session ended prematurely for Jason O'Halloran and Christian Iddon who both crashed in separate incidents at Graham Hill Bend, ending the day twelfth and 17th. American James Rispoli also crashed out unhurt at Paddock Hill Bend.

MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Brands Hatch Indy, free practice two:

Shane Byrne (Be Wiser Ducati) 45.430s
Michael Laverty (Tyco BMW) +0.196s
Danny Buchan (Lloyds British Moto Rapido Ducati) +0.291s
Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda Racing) +0.303s
Richard Cooper (Buildbase BMW) +0.318s
Luke Mossey (Quattro Plant Teccare Kawasaki) +0.348s
James Ellison (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +0.364s
Leon Haslam (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +0.414s
Jakub Smrz (Smiths Racing BMW) +0.432s
Dan Linfoot (Honda Racing) +0.437s