Source: Supplied.

Tyco BMW’s Michael Laverty hit the top of the times in free practice at Knockhill, holding off a late charge in the final minute of the second session from Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne as the pair were separated by just 0.036s, with just 0.8s covering the top 17 riders in Scotland.

Peter Hickman had set the early pace in the afternoon for JG Speedfit Kawasaki with Luke Mossey, the fastest rider in the opening session, displacing him from the top with just under 20 minutes on the clock.

However the Quattro Plant Teccare Kawasaki rider was unable to make it a clean sweep and Laverty moved to the top in the closing stages. As Laverty moved up the order so did Leon Haslam, the JG Speedfit Kawasaki rider moving second with three minutes of the session remaining, but the ‘Pocket Rocket’ was pushed to third in a matter of seconds as Byrne fired the Be Wiser Ducati into second position.

Mossey held fourth ahead of John Hopkins who again showed the performance of the ePayMe Yamaha to complete the top five, just 0.3s off Laverty’s pace-setting lap. Dan Linfoot was sixth fastest for Honda Racing with Hickman dropping back to seventh with the final last minute improvements.

Tyco BMW’s Christian Iddon was eighth fastest with Jason O’Halloran and Richard Cooper on the Buildbase BMW completing the top 10. Next of the Aussies was Billy McConnell in 18th, while debutant Josh Hook wound up 26th.