It was Honda rider Jason O’Halloran who came out trumps in opening Free Practice session of the day – during a stoppage-filled session at Knockhill that saw offs for Haslam, Irwin and Iddon; with a further trio of riders falling at the death to signal the end of the session, with 2mins still to run.
It was the usual protagonists at the top of the times with Mossey, Byrne and O’Halloran sharing the lead at various points throughout the session. However, the session will probably be best remembered for the high-side Leon Haslam endured exiting the chicane. He’s now a serious doubt for the weekend, which presents the rest of the riders in the Championship an opportunity to close the gap at the top of the series.
Shane Byrne looks ominously poised in second place on the timesheets. The Ducati man has an incredible record around Knockhill and must now be odds-on favourite for some strong results this weekend – despite a slow start to the year. O’Halloran as well though, seems to be coming into a run of form, fastest at Snetterton and now going strong in FP1 here at Knockhill¬. Interestingly, Knockhill is the only track that O’Halloran hasn’t been on the podium at and he’ll be keen to resolve that this weekend.
Peter Hickman, stated in an interview during the week that he’d need to relearn how to ride his Smith’s Racing BMW on the short circuits after a podium-scoring TT on the Isle of Man. He said he’d start off steady and bed himself in and a fourth place on the timesheets in FP1 will be viewed as a decent start. He always goes pretty well at Knockhill and his confidence will be probably be at the highest point it’s ever been – which could make him a real threat at round 4.
The next MCE British Superbike action is scheduled for this afternoon. Remember, tomorrow we have BSB warm up and qualifying before we see the first racing action of the weekend, tomorrow afternoon with support class racing.
Sunday’s main raceday will see two MCE British Superbike races headline a full-on race programme from start to finish with Scots in most of the top classes all chasing podiums, it promises to be a thrilling weekend at Knockhill.
Tickets can be pre-booked online via the Knockhill website, up to midnight tonight for Saturday’s action and similarly, midnight on Saturday night for Sunday’s main raceday.
Alternatively, tickets will be available on the gate throughout the weekend, simply arrive at the track and pay the admission fee at the gate and enjoy some of the best bike racing action you’ll see in Scotland this year.
Hope to see you soon.
For full reaction to this weekend’s BSB race meeting, make sure you check out the official BSB website – available here!
