Ryuichi Kiyonari set the fastest lap of the weekend at Assen this morning, upping the pace ahead of this afternoon's Datatag Qualifying session as the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship Showdown continues. The Buildbase BMW rider held off Title Fighters Josh Brookes and Shane 'Shakey' Byrne at the top.

The session began with frantic changes at the top of the times with Byrne taking the initial advantage, before Dan Linfoot had a brief spell in the leading position. Byrne then pushed back ahead but his rival in the 'War for Four' was closing and then Kiyonari claimed the advantage.

Kiyonari held the position, continuing to edge an advantage before Byrne hunted him back down. The pair were split at the end of the session by an improving Josh Brookes on the Milwaukee Yamaha, who waited until the final moments to move second fastest.

Peter Hickman had an impressive performance on the RAF Reserves Honda to climb to fourth in the closing stages to push Linfoot back to fifth. Tommy Bridewell's final lap moved him to sixth on the second of the Milwaukee Yamahas ahead of yesterday's fastest rider, John Hopkins.

Stuart Easton made it two Rapid Solicitors Kawasakis in the top ten as he headed off James Ellison and the Alstare Bimota Junior of Christian Iddon as the Italian manufacturer lined up in the top ten for the first time. Iddon's performance meant that six different manufacturers were represented inside the top ten ahead of this afternoon's Datatag Qualifying session.

MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Assen, free practice three:

Ryuichi Kiyonari (Buildbase BMW) 1m:37.130s
Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha) +0.305s
Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) +0.393s
Peter Hickman (RAF Reserves Honda) +0.530s
Dan Linfoot (Quattro Plant Kawasaki) +0.574s
Tommy Bridewell (Milwaukee Yamaha) +0.583s
John Hopkins (Tyco Suzuki) +0.738s
Stuart Easton (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) +0.741s
James Ellison (Lloyds British GBmoto Racing Kawasaki) +0.773s
Christian Iddon (Alstare Bimota Junior team) +0.867s



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