Leon Haslam upped the pace in the second Bennetts British Superbike Championship free practice session to fire the JG Speedfit Kawasaki to the top of the times by just 0.138s at Assen this afternoon, pushing this morning’s fastest rider Gino Rea back into second place with main title rival Jake Dixon locked into third.

The afternoon session was initially headed by Dixon onboard the RAF Regular & Reserves Kawasaki before Haslam headed to the top of the times and despite the pack hunting him down he managed to hold the edge at the chequered flag.

Tarran Mackenzie had another strong session onboard the McAMS Yamaha; moving inside the top two before he was nudged into fourth in the closing minutes of the session with Tommy Bridewell again completing the top five.

Luke Mossey had been inside the top four earlier in the session, but the second JG Speedfit Kawasaki rider ended the afternoon session in sixth place, holding off Showdown contenders Glenn Irwin and Josh Brookes.

James Ellison and Peter Hickman completed the top ten, pushing Bradley Ray back into eleventh ahead of tomorrow’s Datatag Qualifying session to decide the grid for Sunday’s opening race.