Hickman edges Brookes, Dixon with Haslam 11th

Full BSB FP1 results from Brands Hatch GP

Peter Hickman has topped the opening free practice session at the 2018 Bennetts British Superbike final round at Brands Hatch with title contenders Jake Dixon third and Leon Haslam 11^th.

The Smiths Racing BMW rider’s late time attack saw him shoot to the top of the times with a 1m 25.717s with Josh Brookes, who secured a dominant double at the summer Brands Hatch GP round, slotting into second place on the McAMS Yamaha just 0.067s off but one-thousandth of a second quicker than long-time FP1 leader Dixon.

Despite missing the majority of the opening session with a mechanical issue, Glenn Irwin recovered to set seven laps on his Be Wiser Ducati to take fourth place on the times with the front four split by less than one-tenth.

Tyco BMW’s Christian Iddon took fifth place ahead of Richard Cooperon the Buildbase Suzuki and the other Be Wiser Ducati of Andrew Irwin.

Top rookie Tarran Mackenzie kept in touch with the front-runner despite not targeting a late quick lap for McAMS Yamaha in eighth place as Danny Buchan (FS-3 Racing Kawasaki) and James Ellison (Anvil Hire Yamaha) rounded out the top ten.

That left BSB championship leader Leon Haslam in 11^th for JG Speedfit Kawasaki having focused primarily on long runs after not setting a late improvement at the end of FP1.

With a 61-point lead on Dixon, Haslam can clinch a maiden BSB crown if he concedes fewer than 11 points to his sole title rival in the opening race on Saturday.

2015 Moto3 world champion Danny Kent made a solid start to his BSB debut with Movuno.com Halsall Suzuki in 25^th place, 3.469s off the top lap time set by Hickman. Kent was sacked by Speed Up in Moto2 last month and is weighing up a potential full-time move to the national series in 2019.