Haslam leads Byrne at official BSB test

Click here for full BSB test results from Donington Park

Leon Haslam has topped the official Bennetts British Superbike test at Donington Park ahead of the 2018 season opener next weekend.

After recent snow storms threw the test day into uncertainty, Donington Park staff and marshals produced an impressive clear up job to ensure the circuit was in prime condition despite the cold temperatures for the official test.

Light rain and the chilly conditions effectively wiped out the opening two sessions but the weather remained dry to produce a representative final session which saw the bulk of the BSB grid on track alongside the Superstock 1000 machines.

Haslam topped the times with an impressive 1m 29.902s given the cold track conditions to pull out over a second advantage on defending BSB champion Shane Byrne who had briefly taken top spot with his 1m 31.081s.

The final test session was briefly halted by a red flag after new Gearlink Kawasaki rider Carl Phillips fell at Craner Curves, with the BSB rookie reported as okay after the off, with the rest of the field avoiding any serious issues less than two weeks before the 2018 season opener.

Glenn Irwin ensured two Be Wiser Ducatis were inside the top three just behind teammate Byrne with BSB rookie Gino Rea impressing with new team OMG Racing Suzuki in fourth place having also notched up the highest total of laps at the test.

Luke Mossey held on to fifth place on the timesheet for JG Speedfit Kawasaki after Christian Iddon suffered a minor technical issue with his Tyco BMW towards of the final session with teammate Michael Laverty taking seventh on the times.

2015 BSB champion Josh Brookes settled into his new team McAMS Yamaha with eighth place at the test, just ahead of James Ellison with the pairing trading teams during the winter, as Tommy Bridewell completed the top ten contenders having reformed his partnership with Movuno.com Halsall Racing Suzuki.

The 2018 BSB season gets underway at Donington Park on Easter weekend on the March 31-April 2.