Glenn Irwin closed in on the Thruxton lap record in the final Bennetts British Superbike Championship free practice session this morning, dipping into the 1m:14s lap time for the first time this weekend to head the pack into Datatag Qualifying.

Initially it was Jake Dixon and Peter Hickman who had traded blows at the top of the times, but in the final 20 minutes Glenn Irwin had pulled the pin to fire the Be Wiser Ducati ahead of his rivals by 0.405s, with Tyco BMW’s Christian Iddon surging to second in the final ten minutes.

It was a close call for third position in free practice three with just 0.001s separating Dixon and Luke Mossey on the leading JG Speedfit Kawasaki at the end of the 45 minute session with Honda Racing’s Jason O'Halloran completing the top five.

Tarran Mackenzie holds sixth place for McAMS Yamaha ahead of yesterday’s fastest rider Peter Hickman with championship leader Leon Haslam holding eighth place with Josh Brookes and Andrew Irwin rounding out the top ten.

Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Thruxton, Free Practice 3:

1.Glenn Irwin (Be Wiser Ducati) 1m:14.821s
2.Christian Iddon (Tyco BMW) +0.405s
3.Jake Dixon (RAF Regular & Reserves Kawasaki) +0.448s
4.Luke Mossey (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +0.449s
5.Jason O'Halloran (Honda Racing) +0.529s
6.Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) +0.552s
7.Peter Hickman (Smiths Racing BMW) +0.569s
8.Leon Haslam (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +0.639s
9.Josh Brookes (McAMS Yamaha) +0.641s
10.Andrew Irwin (Be Wiser Ducati) +0.769s

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