Christian Iddon topped the times in a wet opening MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship free practice session at Donington Park which opened the Showdown, with the leading three riders – Leon Haslam, Shane 'Shakey' Byrne and Jason O'Halloran all crashing unhurt.

Tyco BMW’s Iddon commanded the session in the tricky conditions, holding the top spot from Title Fighter James Ellison in the closing stages with Tommy Bridewell pushing ahead of Ryuichi Kiyonari in the final stages.

Alastair Seeley completed the top five, which featured only one of the Showdown six with O’Halloran holding sixth despite a crash at Mcleans at the halfway point of the session. Josh Hook fired the Team WD-40 Kawasaki into seventh place ahead of Byrne who crashed unhurt at Coppice.

Jakub Smrz and Leon Haslam, despite a crash at the Melbourne Loop, completed the top ten.

MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Donington Park, Free Practice one:

Christian Iddon (Tyco BMW) 1m:47.317s
James Ellison (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +0.121s
Tommy Bridewell (Bennetts Suzuki) +1.007s
Ryuichi Kiyonari (Smiths Racing BMW) +1.295s
Alastair Seeley (RAF Reserves BMW) +1.304s
Jason O'Halloran (Honda Racing) +2.044s
Josh Hook (Team WD-40 Kawasaki) +3.434s
Shane Byrne (Be Wiser Ducati) +3.784s
Jakub Smrz (Smiths Racing BMW) +4.065s
Leon Haslam (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +4.386s