James Ellison fired ahead of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship title protagonists Josh Brookes and Shane 'Shakey' Byrne to claim the top position in the final free practice session at Brands Hatch ahead of this afternoon's Datatag Qualifying and opening race of the triple-header weekend.

The positions had shuffled frequently at the top between Brookes and Byrne as the pair bid to hold the final advantage ahead of the race one grid deciding Datatag Qualifying session this afternoon, but in the final moment it was Ellison who edged ahead for JG Speedfit Kawasaki.

As the trio changed positions at the top Danny Buchan climbed to fourth on the second of the PBM Kawasakis to move ahead of Richard Cooper on the leading Buildbase BMW. Jakub Smrz held sixth position on the second of the Milwaukee Yamahas, despite a crash at Surtees in the second half of the session.

Luke Stapleford had a strong session in seventh place ahead of John Hopkins on the Lloyds British Moto Rapido Ducati with Christian Iddon and Peter Hickman completing the top ten for the RAF Reserves BMW team.

Dan Linfoot crashed out at Hawthorns so had his session cut short as the Honda Racing contender bids for further improvement whilst Tommy Bridewell also crashed out during the session at Surtees.

MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Brands Hatch, Free Practice three:

James Ellison (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) 1:26.020
Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha) +0.250s
Shane Byrne (PBM Kawasaki) +0.992s
Danny Buchan (PBM Kawasaki) +1.057s
Richard Cooper (Buildbase BMW) +1.105s
Jakub Smrz (Milwaukee Yamaha) +1.155s
Luke Stapleford (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +1.380s
John Hopkins (Lloyds British Moto Rapido Ducati) +1.705s
Christian Iddon (Bennetts Suzuki) +1.784s
Pete Hickman (RAF Reserves BMW) +1.817s