BSB: Danny Kent Tops The Time Sheets In The First Session Of The Final Bennetts British Superbike Test At Donington Park.
By Dawn Hammersley
Buildbase Hawk Racing’s Danny Kent Put In The Fastest Lap Of The First Session At The Final Testing Date Of The Bennetts British Superbike Championship.
For the final installment of the Bennetts British Superbike testing schedule it was at the Derbyshire circuit of Donington Park, the Superbike and Supporting Classes riders were using the national circuit for the days testing action. The weather conditions were perfect on track, a limited number of spectators were allowed to watch all the action at track side. The teams were debuting their all-new racing liveries for the first time this year with the start of the season just a few weeks away.
As the first session of the day got under-way it was RICH Energy OMG Racing’s Kyle Ryde who was leading the way at the top of the timing sheets, FS-3 Kawasaki’s Lee Jackson made a strong start to proceedings in the top five, whilst his team-mate Rory Skinner had a technical problem and had to return to the pits. Kawasaki’s Storm Stacey made it into the top ten after completing seven laps.
Ten laps in and it was McAMS Yamaha’s Jason O’Halloran who was in first place with Honda’s Glenn Irwin just 0.634s behind in second place. Oxford Racing Ducati’s Tommy Bridewell was down in 15th place and had a mechanical issue. McAMS Yamaha’s Tarran Mackenzie made a bright start getting into the top ten early on in the session. VisionTrack Ducati’s Christian Iddon moved into second place 16 laps in with his team-mate reigning champion Josh Brookes in fifth place. RAF Regular & Reserve Kawasaki’s Ryan Vickers was having a quiet session down in 17th place.
With one minute remaining in the session Builbase Suzuki’s Danny Kent put a flying lap in and topped the time sheets, with team-mate Gino Rea finishing the session in third place. O’Halloran took second spot with team-mate Mackenzie down in ninth place. Ryan Vickers improved and ended his session in fifth place. FHO Racing BMW’s Peter Hickman was top BMW man finishing in fourth place. Iddon only managed to finish in seventh with Brookes down in 12th place. Top Honda man was Glenn Irwin finishing in sixth place. Tommy Bridewell got over his technical issues and finished in eighth place.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Donington Park, Official Test, Session 1:
- Danny Kent (Buildbase Suzuki) 1m:06.334s
- Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) +0.107s
- Gino Rea (Buildbase Suzuki) +0.132s
- Peter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW) +0.277s
- Ryan Vickers (RAF Regular and Reserve Kawasaki) +0.481s
- Glenn Irwin (Honda Racing) +0.627s
- Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati) +0.663s
- Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) +0.710s
- Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) +0.729s
- Andrew Irwin (SYNETIQ BMW) +0.751s
Featured Images: Bennetts British Superbikes, Grid Motorsport Media.