Leon Camier started as he means to go on as the tenth round of the MCE British Superbike Championship got underway at Croft with first free practice.

The Airwaves Yamaha rider is poised to take a definitive step towards this year's title with a good performance around the North Yorkshire circuit, the runaway leader starting well by proving three tenths faster than his closest rival.

Stuart Easton was on the other end of that comfortable margin, the Scot working hard to reduce an earlier advantage of more than half a second to reduce the gap to something more competitive.

Directly behind him on the timesheets was his new team-mate Tommy Hill, the former Worx Crescent Suzuki rider getting immediately on the pace as he embarks on his first weekend in Hydrex Honda colours.

He was quickest of the trio of 'new faces in new places', with returning former champion Ryuichi Kiyonari a low profile tenth on his return for HM Plant Honda and Node4 Yamaha's Karl Harris down in 19th.

Back at the front, Cup champion-elect Gary Mason was an excellent fourth, ahead of Honda counterpart Josh Brookes on the second HM Plant machine. Simon Andrews was the fastest of the Kawasaki contingent, ahead of James Ellison, Ian Lowry and John Laverty.