Ridersmotorcycles.com Ducati's Michael Rutter took the opening advantage in the first MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship free practice at Brands Hatch this morning, stealing it back from Ryuichi Kiyonari on the HM Plant Honda by just 0.002 seconds.

James Ellison had topped the session in the opening ten minutes, but then with just over 30 minutes remaining Michael Rutter powered the Ridersmotorcycles.com Ducati to the top spot where he remained until the final ten minutes of the session.

As Rutter held the fastest lap, Dan Linfoot put the Motorpoint Yamaha second fastest at the half way point, but he later got nudged down the order to tenth. However it was a short stint in second as Tom Sykes, returning from a test session in Japan this morning in time for opening practice, moved second for the Kawasaki World Superbike team with just under 20 minutes to go.

Ryuichi Kiyonari had a steady start to the opening session, but with just over ten minutes remaining he put the HM Plant Honda second to force Sykes back to third with his team-mate Josh Brookes in fourth. Kiyonari then went fastest on his final lap of the session, but just seconds later Rutter had taken it back by the smallest of margins. Sykes maintained third as Alastair Seeley climbed to fourth in the final minutes to move ahead of Brookes.

Yukio Kagayama was the leading Worx Crescent Suzuki for the majority of the session, running inside the top five until the closing stages when he dropped to sixth. His championship-leading team-mate Tommy Hill could only set a time to put him 18th fastest after the opening session.

Michael Laverty on the second of the Relentless Suzukis was seventh ahead of Ellison and the Motorpoint Yamaha duo of Andrew Pitt and Dan Linfoot respectively.

MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Brands Hatch, free practice one result:

Michael Rutter (Ridersmotorcycles.com Ducati) 1m:27.103s
Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) +0.002s
Tom Sykes (Kawasaki World Superbike) +0.395s
Alastair Seeley (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +0.418s
Josh Brookes (HM Plant Honda) +0.428s
Yukio Kagayama (Worx Crescent Suzuki) +0.468s
Michael Laverty (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +0.580s
James Ellison (Swan Honda) +0.714s
Andrew Pitt (Motorpoint Yamaha) +0.979s
Dan Linfoot (Motorpoint Yamaha) +0.993s