Title leader Leon Camier dominated free practice at Cadwell Park ahead of Monday's ninth round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship.

The Airwaves Yamaha rider ran consistently quickly in both sessions, putting in scorching lap of the Lincolnshire circuit in 1m 27.911secs, an average speed of 89.27mph, to be over a second faster than the rest.

“The bike was just getting better and better,” said Camier, the winner of all but three of the 17 races so far, as he has amassed a lead of 113.5 points over his team-mate and nearest rival James Ellison. “There are still one or two things we have to work on and I expect to improve on my times in tomorrow's sessions.

“We have things going well with the bike and I am feeling good about these races now, and while I want the wins, at this stage of the season, if I can't take them, then I will settle for strong points with the title in mind,” added Camier.

Ian Lowry, riding the Relentless Suzuki, posed the nearest threat to Camier, putting in a time of 1m 29.023secs on his sixth lap of the second session to be a split second up on Hydrex Honda rider Stuart Easton who overcame a determined Simon Andrews aboard the MSS Colchester Kawasaki in a late scrap for third place on the leaderboard.

John Laverty also put in a last minute dash, lapping in 1m 29.180secs to move his Buildbase Kawasaki fifth ahead of Karl Harris on the second Hydrex bike while Gary Mason, the comfortable leader in the chase for the Mirror.co.uk Cup, ran seventh overall on the Quay Garage Honda with a lap in 1m 29.299secs.

Graeme Gowland, riding the Motorpoint Henderson Yamaha, all but matched his pace with Julien da Costa just ahead of the returning force of former MotoGP rider Sylvain Guintoli. The Frenchman, recovered from the serious leg injuries suffered in the third round, settled to the rigours of the circuit, reducing his lap times by three quarters of a second between sessions to a best of 1m 29.544secs.

Guintoli, the winner of the first race of the campaign, and the only rider apart from Ellison to have beaten Camier was tenth fastest, marginally faster than the second Airwaves rider, Ellison, who had outpaced Chris Walker by just 0.002secs with Tristan Palmer well on the pace.

The locally based HM Plant Honda team, double winners in the corresponding round of last year, struggled for pace. John McGuinness, their Isle of Man TT hero put in a lap of 1m 29.764secs, as he deputised for the injured Glen Richards, with Karl Muggeridge, in for the suspended Josh Brookes a further quarter of a second down in fifteenth place.

Martin Jessopp, aboard the Riders Racing Honda, was second best to Mason in the Cup stakes, running almost a second down on him, but just ahead of Peter Hickman on the Ultimate Racing Yamaha and Kenny Gilbertson on the Jx Fuelcards Kawasaki.