The “Indy” circuit of Brands Hatch has seen Shane Byrne winning 7 races (including two double vitories back in 2008 and 2014) and collecting 13 podium finishes and this is where Shakey won Race 2 in 2016, when Ducati Panigale got its first win in BSB. This is just a part of the circuit where Shakey has won many times, but the reigning Champion is very fast also on this short 1.944-metre track and the wonderful lap in 45″213 did in the last FP session proves it. Just one millisecond slower than the race lap record set in 2015 by James Ellison (45″212), the 6 times BSB Champion did a great job under the sun shining for FP3 and, if we consider how short this track is, the gaps between him and his opponents are not that littl: he was 2 tenths faster than Christian Iddon, Glenn Irwin and Leon Haslam, who ranked 2nd, 3rd and 4th.
A wonderful start for Byrne, a big improvement for Bradley Ray, who finished FP3 in 5th position (45″489) after being just 17th on Friday. The championship leader set the same laptime as Michael Laverty, while the other Buildbase Suzuki rider Richard Cooper ranked 7th. After the injury that ruled Dan Linfoot out of the race weekend, Jason O’Halloran is 8th with the only Honda on the track, followed by the Yamaha riders James Ellison (Anvil Hire TAG Racing) and Joshua Brookes (McAMS Yamaha). Brookes has never won on Brands Hatch Indy and he’s improving step by step as the sessions go by.
Before the qualifying session, which will determine the starting gird for Race 1, we have to record the crashes involving Taylor Mackenzie at Graham Hill Bend and Sylvain Barrier at Clearways. The twice FIM Superstock 1000 Champion is having a difficult time in this debut in Bennetts BSB…
Donington Park
FP3 Classification
01- Shane Byrne – Be Wiser Ducati – Ducati Panigale R – 45.213
02- Christian Iddon – Tyco BMW Motorrad – BMW S1000RR – + 0.222
03- Glenn Irwin – Be Wiser Ducati – Ducati Panigale R – + 0.229
04- Leon Haslam – JG Speedfit Kawasaki – Kawasaki ZX-10RR – + 0.266
05- Bradley Ray – Buildbase Suzuki – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – + 0.276
06- Michael Laverty – Tyco BMW Motorrad – BMW S1000RR – + 0.276
07- Richard Cooper – Buildbase Suzuki – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – + 0.286
08- Jason O’Halloran – Honda Racing – Honda CBR 1000RR – + 0.315
09- James Ellison – Anvil Hire TAG Yamaha – Yamaha YZF R1 – + 0.323
10- Josh Brookes – McAMS Yamaha – Yamaha YZF R1 – + 0.363
11- Peter Hickman – Smiths Racing – BMW S1000RR – + 0.412
12- Tommy Bridewell – Movuno.com Halsall Racing – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – + 0.471
13- Danny Buchan – FS-3 Racing Kawasaki – Kawasaki ZX-10RR – + 0.491
14- Jakub Smrz – Lloyd & Jones Bowker Motorrad – BMW S1000RR – + 0.534
15- Jake Dixon – RAF Regular & Reserves – Kawasaki ZX-10RR – + 0.539
16- Tarran Mackenzie – McAMS Yamaha – Yamaha YZF R1 – + 0.612
17- Gino Rea – OMG Racing UK LTD – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – + 0.772
18- Kyle Ryde – CF Motorsport Yamaha – Yamaha YZF R1 – + 0.794
19- Luke Mossey – JG Speedfit Kawasaki – Kawasaki ZX-10RR – + 0.847
20- Mason Law – Team WD-40 Kawasaki – Kawasaki ZX-10RR – + 0.973
21- Taylor Mackenzie – Moto Rapido Ducati – Ducati Panigale R – + 1.012
22- Shaun Winfield – Anvil Hire TAG Yamaha – Yamaha YZF R1 – + 1.727
23- Sylvain Barrier – Smiths Racing – BMW S1000RR – + 1.766
24- Carl Phillips – Gearlink Kawasaki – Kawasaki ZX-10RR – + 2.173
Alessio Piana