Reigning title holder Shane “Shakey” Byrne scorched to the top of the times after the opening two free practice sessions in the heat of Snetterton as he fired a warning to his MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship title pretenders that he means business in Norfolk.

The Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki rider put in a best lap of 1m 48.637s as he edged out Australia’s Josh Brookes aboard the Tyco Suzuki and Alex Lowes in the dying seconds of the final session Friday.

Byrne admits that he still has work to do to stay ahead of the chasing pack, he said: “I love riding my bike but at the moment it feels like I am sitting on top of it rather than riding it. I hope to get that sorted so that I am really riding it in the races on Sunday. We have a package that will work, but we have to get to the bottom of it first.

“It is a case of trying and trying; we have persevered and we are making progress but there is still work to do and there is no doubt that we have made steps forwards,” added Byrne who is aiming to take the crown for a record fourth time.

Lowes is determined to fight back this weekend after a crash at Knockhill ended his run of six consecutive podium finishes and he held off his triple title-winning team-mate Ryuichi Kiyonari who has celebrated the most winning success at the Norfolk circuit.

James Westmoreland fired the Buildbase BMW into fifth place as four manufacturers featured inside the top five ahead of Saturdays Datatag Extreme Qualifying session.

Free practice one:

1:Alex Lowes (Samsung Honda) 1m:48.853s 2:Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) +0.196s 3:Ryuichi Kiyonari (Samsung Honda) +0.912s 4:Jakub Smrz (Padgetts Honda) +1.132s 5:Josh Brookes (Tyco Suzuki) +1.297s 6:James Westmoreland (Buildbase BMW) +1.481s

Free practice two:

1:Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) 1m:48.637s 2:Josh Brookes (Tyco Suzuki) +0.592s 3:Alex Lowes (Samsung Honda) +0.722s 4:Ryuichi Kiyonari (Samsung Honda) 0.784s 5:James Westmoreland (Buildbase BMW) +0.787s 6:Jakub Smrz (Padgetts Honda) +0.908s

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