Milwaukee Yamaha's Josh Brookes proved he still had more in reserve for the final session of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship official test at Snetterton, by becoming the first rider to dip into the 1m:46s lap time on the Snetterton 300 circuit.

Brookes had set the fastest recorded time at the circuit earlier in the day, but in the afternoon with some final changes to his Milwaukee Yamaha, the Australian upped the ante. As the last ten minutes of the session counted down he again slashed more time off his lap to set a time 0.590s faster than John Hopkins' qualifying time from 2011.

Brookes had only briefly been moved from the top in the final 20 minutes as James Ellison had a moment at the top of the times, but it was a short spell as his Milwaukee Yamaha rival went back to the top spot just a handful of laps later. Brookes then completed a sequence of faster laps to confirm his position at the top of the times.

Brookes said:

"Yesterday was smoother than today as we were doing straightforward changes, apart from the new tank. Today we have been making changes to experiment with a few things, so it wasn't so straight forward for me and I was just a bit like a test pilot. As it turns out by what we testing here we were able to put a few little pieces together that were better than what we had previously, so when we went out on new tyres the bike had improved on what we had yesterday,  so we could do a better lap time and make it into the 1m:46s.

"I did a small run of five or six laps in the final session and they were all really fast and positive so that is good. We are pleased - it has been a perfect test in terms of what we have tested, the lap times, the tyre wear, the conditions. I even had my first crash of the season, although it was a tiny little slip off at the hairpin to get that out of the way. It was a really valuable test for us as a team."

Ellison and Shane 'Shakey' Byrne were then wrestling for the second position on the times in the final session with the pair trading the position several times in the closing minutes as they bid for their best lap time of the test. Byrne eventually held the advantage over the JG Speedfit Kawasaki rider, but only by 0.018s at the chequered flag.

Jakub Smrz was another rider to improve his time and the Moto Rapido Ducati rider closed down the leading trio in the final minutes as the pace intensified. The final session also saw the second Milwaukee Yamaha of Broc Parkes take a leap up the timesheets as the Australian contender held fifth place ahead of fellow countryman Jason O'Halloran for Honda Racing.

Chris Walker was seventh fastest for the Be Wiser Kawasaki team as the 'Stalker' set his best lap of the test to move back ahead of Stuart Easton on the second of the PBM Kawasakis. Danny Buchan on the Be Wiser Kawasaki and Christian Iddon completed the top ten for Bennetts Suzuki.

MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Snetterton official test, combined times:

Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha) 1m:46.861s
Shane Byrne (PBM Kawasaki) +0.562s
James Ellison (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +0.580s
Jakub Smrz (Moto Rapido Ducati) +0.644s
Broc Parkes (Milwaukee Yamaha) +1.115s
Jason O'Halloran (Honda Racing) +1.174s
Chris Walker (Be Wiser Kawasaki) +1.796s
Stuart Easton (PBM Kawasaki) +1.812s
Danny Buchan (Be Wiser Kawasaki) +1.875s
Christian Iddon (Bennetts Suzuki) +1.936s

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