Samsung Honda's Alex Lowes kicked off his final Showdown weekend in style by topping the opening MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship free practice session which took place in damp conditions at Brands Hatch.

Lowes left it until the closing stages of the session to move up the order and topple Josh Brookes from the top of the times as he ended second fastest for Tyco Suzuki. Lowes' main title rival Shane 'Shakey' Byrne was eleventh fastest after completing just three laps as he watched the majority of the session from the pit wall as the track continued to dry.

Samsung Honda had two riders in the top ten with Freddy Foray returning in third ahead of PJ Jacobsen as Samsung Honda and Tyco Suzuki dominated the top five positions. Michael Rutter rounded out the top five onboard the Bathams Honda.

Quattro Plant Bournemouth Kawasaki's Chris Walker was sixth fastest as he moved up the order ahead of Aaron Zanotti on the STEL Suzuki and Jakub Smrz who had set the pace early on in the session. Danny de Boer and Peter Hickman completed the top ten for Bathams Honda and Lloyds British GBmoto Honda respectively.

MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Brands Hatch free practice one:

Alex Lowes (Samsung Honda) 1m:37.807s
Josh Brookes (Tyco Suzuki) +0.153s
Freddy Foray (Samsung Honda) +1.745s
PJ Jacobsen (Tyco Suzuki) +2.848s
Michael Rutter (Bathams Honda) +3.388s
Chris Walker (Quattro Plant Bournemouth Kawasaki) +4.175s
Aaron Zanotti (STEL Suzuki) +4.913s
Jakub Smrz (Padgetts Honda) +5.189s
Danny de Boer (Bathams Honda) +5.661s
Peter Hickman (Lloyds British GBmoto Honda) +6.062s

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