John Hopkins saved his best lap for last in the opening MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship free practice session at Silverstone, firing the Lloyds British Moto Rapido Ducati ahead of Michael Laverty in the closing seconds.

Laverty had been trading blows at the top of the times with championship leader Josh Brookes, but the pair had to settle for second and third place at the end of the opening session when the American edged ahead.

James Ellison held fourth place for the JG Speedfit Kawasaki team, narrowly ahead of Shane 'Shakey' Byrne on the PBM Kawasaki as four different manufacturers were represented in the top five positions.

Sixth place was the battle of the BMWs as Peter Hickman held off Richard Cooper in the closing stages of the session with Jakub Smrz making it two Milwaukee Yamahas in the top eight positions. The Quattro Plant Kawasaki pairing of Howie Mainwaring and Luke Mossey were formation flying to complete the top ten, to nudge the returning Ryuichi Kiyonari to eleventh place.

Tommy Bridewell was 13th fastest on the second Tyco BMW, he crashed out at Stowe unhurt and lost time on his rivals, whilst the final Title Fighter Dan Linfoot was 14th for Honda Racing.

MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Silverstone, Free Practice one:

John Hopkins (Lloyds British Moto Rapido Ducati) 2m:06.259s
Michael Laverty (Tyco BMW) +0.172s
Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha) +0.264s
James Ellison (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +0.643s
Shane Byrne (PBM Kawasaki) +1.069s
Peter Hickman (RAF Reserves BMW) +1.374s
Richard Cooper (Buildbase BMW) +1.624s
Jakub Smrz (Milwaukee Yamaha) +1.649s
Howie Mainwaring (Quattro Plant Kawasaki) +1.711s
Luke Mossey (Quattro Plant Kawasaki) +1.784s