Danny Buchan Stamps His Authority In The First Free Practice session Of The day At Oulton Park.

The Bennetts British Superbike Championship are at the Cheshire Circuit of Oulton Park for Round Nine of the 2021 Championship. Round nine sees the start of the all-important showdown, eight riders go head-to-head over the next three rounds to decide who will be crowned The 2021 Bennetts British Superbike Champion.

FHO Racing BMW’s Xavi Forés has parted-ways with the FHO Racing team and will be taking no further part in the championship. Joe Sheldon-Shaw is debuting for The Iforce Lloyd & Jones BMW Team, Michael Dunlop is debuting for Buildbase Suzuki for Round nine of the Championship.

As the First Free Practice session of the day got under-way it was Honda’s Glenn Irwin leading the way from VisionTrack Ducati’s Christian Iddon. Buildbase Suzuki’s Gino Rea good run of form was continuing as he was up-to second place after completing four laps.

Ten minutes into the session FHO BMW’s Peter Hickman was in first place followed by Glenn Irwin and Christian Iddon. McAMS Yamaha’s Tarran Mackenzie and Ducati’s Josh Brookes were the only Showdown competitors outside the top ten in 11th and 12th place respectively. Mackenzie’s team-mate and Championship leader Jason O’Halloran was in third place after completing seven laps.

At the half-way mark of the Free Practice One session Peter Hickman was still holding on to first place, O’Halloran was in second place, Glenn Irwin in third, Josh Brookes was on the move and in fourth place, fellow Ducati man Tommy Bridewell was in fifth place. Showdown contender SYNETIQ BMW’s Danny Buchan was in sixth place. Mackenzie was still outside the top ten in 13th place.

With just five minutes remaining Tommy Bridewell was in second place, just in front of O’Halloran, Kawasaki riders Ryan Vickers and Lee Jackson were in seventh and eighth place respectively, Iddon had slipped down the order and was in tenth place.

At the checkered flag it was Essex rider Danny Buchan who stormed to the top of the time sheet, Hickman was just 0.036s behind in second place, Bridewell finished in third place, Lee Jackson was in fourth place and Andrew Irwin finished in fifth place. Championship leader Jason O’Halloran finished in eighth place, just in front of Gino Rea, Brookes rounded out the top ten in tenth place. Showdown contenders Iddon and Mackenzie finished in 12th and 13th place respectively.

Free Practice Two is coming up later this afternoon, will Danny Buchan hold on to his first place after the Free Practice Two proceedings?

Featured Images: Bennetts British Superbikes, Bikesport News.