As the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship returned at Knockhill this morning (Friday) Luke Mossey grabbed the initial advantage in the opening free practice session, waiting until the final minutes to claim the top spot from Leon Haslam.

When the session got underway a frantic start to the weekend saw Tyco BMW’s Michael Laverty post the initial benchmark, setting a consistent run of laps to hold the position before Haslam moved ahead in the final ten minutes for the JG Speedfit Kawasaki team.

An incredibly close session to open the weekend meant the positions frantically changed with the top ten consistently shuffling with the top 18 cover 0.9s at the end of the first free practice.

The Honda pairing of Jason O'Halloran and Dan Linfoot moved fourth and fifth in the closing moments of the session to push a hard-charging John Hopkins back to sixth for the ePayMe Yamaha team, narrowly ahead of Shane 'Shakey' Byrne on the Be Wiser Ducati.

Christian Iddon made it two Tyco BMWs in the top ten in eighth place with James Ellison and Tommy Bridewell completing the top ten which featured all six manufacturers.

MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Knockhill, Free Practice 1:

Luke Mossey (Quattro Plant Teccare Kawasaki) 48.507s
Leon Haslam (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +0.214s
Michael Laverty (Tyco BMW) +0.264s
Jason O'Halloran (Honda Racing) +0.269s
Dan Linfoot (Honda Racing) +0.310s
John Hopkins (ePayMe Yamaha) +0.352s
Shane Byrne (Be Wiser Ducati) +0.415s
Christian Iddon (Tyco BMW) +0.469s
James Ellison (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +0.531s
Tommy Bridewell (Bennetts Suzuki) +0.548s