The Stobart Honda rider is keen to finish the season on a high at his local circuit and never dropped out of the top ten the entire session. Rea jumped to the top spot with 15mins to go and looked like he was going to keep the coveted number one right until Byrne stole it away.
Gregorio Lavilla was looking fast and menacing leading a large part of the second free practice. He finished in third place splitting the HM Plant pair as Ryuichi Kiyonari was running in fourth place.
Although Kiyo has a 37 point lead he has two very determined riders on his tail, his team-mate Rea and Airwaves Ducati's Leon Haslam. Once all the riders who want a podium finish are put into the mix it is all adding up to a difficult race day for Kiyonari.
Cal Crutchlow on the Rizla Suzuki suffered a technical problem with 19 mins of the session to go. He ended the second free practice in fifth place while his team-mate Chris Walker was running ninth.
Haslam who is determined to grab another double race win off the back of his double at
Donington Park was in sixth place. The Ducati rider out paced Karl Harris on the Hydrex Honda who finished in seventh. He had been running in third early on and looks set to pull in a strong result last time out.
Tom Sykes took up eighth place and Michael Rutter completed the top ten on the Isilon MSS Discovery Kawasaki.
BSB free practice results (2) – Brands Hatch:
1. Shane Byrne
2. Jonathan Rea
3. Gregorio Lavilla
4. Ryuichi Kiyonari
5. Cal Crutchlow
6. Leon Haslam
7. Karl Harris
8. Tom Sykes
9. Chris Walker
10. Michael Rutter
