Rory Skinner had the best possible return to the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at his home round of Knockhill as the Cheshire Mouldings BMW Motorrad rider set an early benchmark in dry conditions in the opening session, which could not be improved due to wet conditions for the remainder of the day.
Skinner had edged a 0.058s advantage over reigning champion Tommy Bridewell in the opening Free Practice with just 0.999s covering the top 17 riders due to the intense 1.26-mile Knockhill lap. Skinner had returned to the action after missing the previous races at Donington Park following his warm up crash at Oulton Park.
Leon Haslam was third fastest for ROKiT BMW Motorrad, holding off Danny Buchan on the DAO Racing Kawasaki, who has previously shown strong form at the fast Fife circuit, and Josh Brookes completed the top five for the FHO Racing BMW Motorrad Team.
Danny Kent was sixth fastest for McAMS Racing Yamaha, holding off championship leader Glenn Irwin on the Hager PBM Ducati and Lee Jackson on the MasterMac Honda. He had taken eighth place by just 0.002s from Jason O'Halloran, with Andrew Irwin completed a top ten that featured nine different teams.
Charlie Nesbitt and Ryan Vickers, who returns after his injury at Donington Park to lead the OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing riders, completed the top 12. His teammate Kyle Ryde had sat out the opening session after coming down with a sickness bug overnight, but he rejoined the action in Free Practice Two, however with wet conditions in the afternoon he will need to progress through Qualifying One tomorrow if he wants to fight for the Omologato pole position.
In the afternoon wet session, O’Halloran had been the leading rider with a best time of 52.323s, 4.206s slower than the dry times from the opening part of the first session. The Completely Motorbikes Kawasaki rider edged out Vickers by 0.025s as Haslam ended the afternoon with a crash.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Knockhill, combined Free Practice results:
- Rory Skinner (Cheshire Mouldings BMW Motorrad) 48.117s
- Tommy Bridewell (Honda Racing UK) +0.058s
- Leon Haslam (ROKiT Haslam Racing BMW Motorrad) +0.258s
- Danny Buchan (DAO Racing Kawasaki) +0.300s
- Josh Brookes (FHO Racing BMW Motorrad Team) +0.429s
- Danny Kent (McAMS Racing Yamaha) +0.474s
- Glenn Irwin (Hager PBM Ducati) +0.538s
- Lee Jackson (MasterMac Honda) +0.571s
- Jason O'Halloran (Completely Motorbikes Kawasaki) 0.573s
- Andrew Irwin (Honda Racing UK) +0.584s
For the full result please click here