Source: British Superbike Championship.

Steady setup improvements over the course of the day have seen Aussie Josh Brookes set the pace in British Superbike Championship (BSB) free practice at Oulton Park, host of the series’ second round.

The Milwaukee Yamaha rider admitted a lack of rhythm slowed him in the morning session and worked closely with his team in order to find improvement.

He rounded out the morning session sixth but wholesale changes ahead of the afternoon would bring about the greatest gains, with Brookes making instant progress as he hit the track.

The Australian neared record pace in the dying stages of the session, his 1m35.497 lap heading off the challenge of Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki’s Stuart Easton by 0.236 seconds.

The top two finished the day well clear of their closest challengers, with points leader Shane Byrne lapping the second Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki over eight-tenths of a second off the pace in third.

Byrne’s pace was masked by an electrical issue which saw him sidelined for a significant part of the session.

Practice one pacesetter, Lloyds British GBmoto Kawasaki’s James Ellison was fourth to Byrne by just 0.005 seconds, with the Anvil Hire TAG Kawasaki of Richard Cooper in close check to confirm four ZX-10Rs in the top five.

Tyco Suzuki’s Josh Waters made significant progress throughout the opening day.

The Aussie rider banked a time for 19th in the first free practice, around 3.5 seconds off the leader’s pace, before improving to 12th during the afternoon and closing to within 1.8 seconds of Brookes.

It was a costly day for Mitchell Carr on the second Anvil Hire TAG Kawasaki, with the Aussie easing into the task in the morning session before crashing in the second.

Initial reports have Carr sustaining a broken hand in the crash, ruling him out of further contention this weekend.

A see-sawing battle between Smiths Triumph teammates Graeme Gowland and Billy McConnell saw the former lead the latter by just 0.075 seconds at the close of the second British Supersport practice session.

Aussie McConnell topped the morning outing and is in good stead ahead of qualifying, 0.366 seconds clear of Alastair Seeley who was third for MarTrain Yamaha.

Luke Stapleford closed out the top four times, just 0.383 seconds off Gowland’s benchmark, with fifth-placed Luke Mossey over a second off the pace on his Triumph.

In the Superstock 1000 class it was Tsingtao Kawasaki’s Danny Buchan leading the way for the first qualifier, a solid 0.564 seconds clear of Aussie Jason O’Halloran aboard the Honda Racing Fireblade.

Victor Cox and Josh Elliot were third and fourth respectively, with David Johnson in the top five, the Aussie 0.827 seconds off Buchan’s benchmark for PR Racing Kawasaki.

The third Aussie in class, Glen Richards, ran ninth for Honda Padgetts Racing.

It was a solid showing for Aussies in the first Superstock 600 qualifying session, with Levi Day fifth for CPE Kawasaki and Ben Currie seventh for Moto-Breakers Kawasaki. Fellow ZX-6 pilot and Aussie James Mutton was mid-pack, placing 24th.

2014 British Superbike Championship
Round two – Oulton Park

Superbike free practice results:
1. Josh BROOKES (AUS) 1m35.497
2. Stuart EASTON 1m35.733
3. Shane BYRNE 1m36.300
4. James ELLISON 1m36.305
5. Richard COOPER 1m36.328
6. Jakub SMRZ 1m36.479
7. Chris WALKER 1m36.711
8. Ryuichi KIYONARI 1m36.956
9. Tommy BRIDEWELL 1m37.110
10. James WESTMORELAND 1m37.124
12. Josh WATERS (AUS) 1m37.384
24. Mitchell CARR (AUS) 1m39.914

Supersport free practice results:
1. Graeme GOWLAND 1m37.894
2. Billy McCONNELL (AUS) 1m37.969
3. Alastair SEELEY 1m38.260
4. Luke STAPLEFORD 1m38.277
5. Luke MOSSEY 1m38.912
6. Jake DIXON 1m38.952
7. Samuel HORNSEY 1m39.382
8. Glenn IRWIN 1m39.562
9. Luke JONES 1m39.700
10. Callan COOPER 1m39.787

Click here for detailed results