Round Five – Knockhill
Friday Practice Report / Results
Scott Redding fired the Be Wiser Ducati to the top of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship free practice times at Knockhill this afternoon, setting the fastest lap of the session in the closing minutes to edge 0.081s ahead of Danny Buchan.
Scott Redding – Be Wiser Ducati
“Today went really well, ending up fastest in FP2 and circuit-wise I am quite happy. It is quite quirky and quite technical with a lot of up and down, which is nice for me to have something different to ride and I am feeling good. I got quite a lot of laps in today and the weather has been phenomenal so I am looking forward to tomorrow to get some more laps under my belt to build on a race set-up so that is the focus for the morning. I want to get some more markers to be more consistent with braking and apart from that I am happy and can’t wait for raceday!”
Buchan had been at the top of the times for the majority of the final half of the session for the FS3-Racing Kawasaki team, but a rapid final run from Redding was enough to put him at the top, with the top 18 riders covered by just 0.936s.
In perfect conditions at the Scottish circuit the session got underway, but it wasn’t the best start to the for McAMS Yamaha’s Tarran Mackenzie who had a small tip off at the Hairpin, but was able to return to the pitlane and head back out onto circuit after some minor repairs by the team.
Mackenzie was soon back on track and lapping in the top five, but as the times tumbled he later dropped to tenth, but just 0.454s off the pacesetting time of Redding.
With 20 minutes on the clock Josh Brookes, the fastest rider in the opening session, moved ahead by just 0.005s, but a crash for the Be Wiser Ducati rider ended his second practice prematurely and he watched the closing stages from the sidelines, although he was unhurt.
At the top of the times Buchan then had the advantage ahead of Brookes and Luke Mossey had moved up into third ahead of Dan Linfoot and Redding with just under ten minutes to go, but the final minutes saw a shake-up as Redding went fastest.
The shuffle in the times included a fast lap from Keith Farmer who moved into fourth for Tyco BMW in the final minutes, pushing Mossey and Linfoot into fifth and sixth with Bradley Ray having another strong session in seventh for Buildbase Suzuki.
Jason O’Halloran was improving his pace to hold eighth position after his crash this morning, moving ahead of Christian Iddon and Mackenzie. Championship leader Tommy Bridewell was 14th fastest with a time just 0.697s adrift of Redding.
In his return from injury, a far from fit Ben Currie was 21st quickest in what is a 28-rider British Superbike field at Knockhill this weekend.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship
Knockhill, Free Practice 1 result
- Josh Brookes (Be Wiser Ducati) 48.001s
- Danny Buchan (FS-3 Racing Kawasaki) +0.014s
- Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) +0.073s
- Dan Linfoot (Santander Salt TAG Yamaha) +0.110s
- Scott Redding (Be Wiser Ducati) +0.162s
- Christian Iddon (Tyco BMW) +0.242s
- Luke Mossey (OMG Racing Suzuki) +0.254s
- Bradley Ray (Buildbase Suzuki) +0.258s
- Peter Hickman (Smiths Racing BMW) +0.268s
- Glenn Irwin (Quattro Plant JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +0.285s
Bennetts British Superbike Championship
Knockhill, Free Practice 2 result
- Scott Redding (Be Wiser Ducati) 47.667s
- Danny Buchan (FS3-Racing Kawasaki) +0.081s
- Josh Brookes (Be Wiser Ducati) +0.160s
- Keith Farmer (Tyco BMW) +0.276s
- Luke Mossey (OMG Racing Suzuki) +0.286s
- Dan Linfoot (Santander Salt TAG Yamaha) +0.309s
- Bradley Ray (Buildbase Suzuki) +0.313s
- Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) +0.331s
- Christian Iddon (Tyco BMW) +0.389s
- Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) +0.454s
Images by Dave Yeomans
Source: MCNews.com.au