Defending champion Shane 'Shakey' Byrne held the initial advantage following the opening two sessions at Snetterton this morning as the Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki rider pushed ahead of Alex Lowes who had topped the times initially for Samsung Honda.

Lowes returned to Snetterton determined to pick up the pace after the disappointment of missing out on the podium at Knockhill and in warm conditions he set the standard in the first session ahead of his title rival Byrne. The first session also saw Padgetts Honda close the gap at the front as Jakub Smrz moved up the order at a circuit that he believes could prove to be one of his strongest.

Milwaukee Yamaha's James Ellison was fourth fastest in the morning as he moved ahead of Ryuichi Kiyonari in the closing stages with Chris Walker, James Westmoreland, Dan Linfoot, Keith Farmer and Peter Hickman completing the top ten.


In the second session Byrne and Lowes again swapped positions at the top of the times but the Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki rider held the advantage ahead of the break with his best lap of the day 0.232 seconds faster than Lowes.

Westmoreland showed improvement in the second session to move up to third on the Buildbase BMW ahead of Smrz and Ellison who rounded out the top five for Milwaukee Yamaha as they bid to bounce back from a tough Knockhill. Farmer was sixth fastest as he moved ahead of Linfoot on the fastest of the Lloyds British GBmoto Hondas with Walker, Hickman and Jon Kirkham completing the top ten.

MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Snetterton official test, session one:

Alex Lowes (Samsung Honda) 1m:50.210s
Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) +0.155s
Jakub Smrz (Padgetts Honda) +1.659s
James Ellison (Milwaukee Yamaha) +1.818s
Ryuichi Kiyonari (Samsung Honda) +1.828s
Chris Walker (Quattro Plant Bournemouth Kawasaki) +1.857s
James Westmoreland (Buildbase BMW) +2.221s
Dan Linfoot (Lloyds British GBmoto Honda) +2.656s
Keith Farmer (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) +2.906s
Peter Hickman (Lloyds British GBmoto Honda) +3.223s


MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Snetterton official test, session two:

Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) 1m:49.488s
Alex Lowes (Samsung Honda) +0.232s
James Westmoreland (Buildbase BMW) +0.936s
Jakub Smrz (Padgetts Honda) +1.226s
James Ellison (Milwaukee Yamaha) +1.226s
Keith Farmer (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) +1.411s
Dan Linfoot (Lloyds British GBmoto Honda) +1.963s
Chris Walker (Quattro Plant Bournemouth Kawasaki) +2.067s
Peter Hickman (Lloyds British GBmoto Honda) +2.744s
Jon Kirkham (Buildbase BMW) +2.760s



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