Byrne sets fastest ever lap at Brands Hatch

Shane Byrne has set the fastest ever lap on two wheels around the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit with a 1m 24.838s to take a clean sweep of the free practice sessions

06 Aug 2016

Click here for full BSB FP3 results from Brands Hatch GP

Shane Byrne has set the fastest ever lap on two wheels around the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit with a 1m 24.838s to take a clean sweep of the free practice sessions.

The Be Wiser Ducati rider resisted putting in a fresh rear tyre until the final five minutes of FP3 after Honda's Jason O'Halloran grabbed top spot during his qualifying simulation run.

Byrne blitzed the times with two consecutive 1m 24.8s laps, with his second lap shaving off three hundredths of a second to set a new record as the fastest ever lap around Brands Hatch GP, previously held by Josh Brookes set in 2011.

By ducking into the 1m 24s, the four-time BSB champion pulled out over a third of a second on O'Halloran, as Quattro Plant Kawasaki's Luke Mossey made significant gains to grab third overall ahead of the second Be Wiser Ducati of Glenn Irwin.

Richard Cooper claimed fifth on the timesheet from Tommy Bridewell as Danny Buchan, Christian Iddon, Jakub Smrz and Peter Hickman rounded out the top ten.

Dan Linfoot was shuffled down to 12th after he suffered an early crash in the session but was able to continue, while the JG Speedfit Kawasaki duo of Leon Haslam and James Ellison continued to be off the pace in 13th and 14th respectively, with Thruxton race two winner Michael Laverty in 15th.

Further down Broc Parkes had a small slide off at Graham Hill bend which prematurely ended his session to see him fall to 18th and just ahead of ePayMe Yamaha team-mate John Hopkins in 19th.