Image: Supplied.

Kawasaki Racing Team’s Jonathan Rea forced through a last twist of the tale at the final Motul Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK) free practice session of Donington Park, topping the times in the closing seconds.

The reigning champion beat teammate Tom Sykes’ (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) best lap with a 1m28.003s on his final lap, just as he had done under the rain in FP2.

With each rider taking one practice apiece, the tie-breaker boiled down to the final seconds, with Sykes appearing to have clinched it at the chequered flag, but it was Rea – who had gone through the gravel a couple of minutes earlier – who ended up taking the lead with a last gasp flying lap.

Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati), Xavi Fores (Barni Racing Team) and Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) all hit the ground in a drying final free practice session. For the first two, their crashes mean they’ll have to battle their way through the Superpole 1.

Lorenzo Savadori (Milwaukee Aprilia) shone again in the final session of the day, with the third-best lap time, while behind Savadori, Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha) confirmed his good form with the fourth fastest time, ahead of Eugene Laverty (Milwaukee Aprilia) in fifth.

Van der Mark, recovering quickly from his earlier crash, made it through Friday in sixth, with Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) showing his Donington experience with the seventh-fastest time. Loris Baz (GULF Althea BMW Racing Team) made it through the chequered flag in eighth.

Making his WorldSBK debut at Donington, Bradley Ray (Buildbase Suzuki) did not disappoint, with the young home talent closing Friday in ninth position. Closing the top 10, Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) barely scraped his way through after remaining in the lower end of the time-sheets throughout most of the afternoon.

In World Supersport, Federico Caricasulo (GRT Yamaha) scored the fastest lap, pipping teammate Lucas Mahias (GRT Yamaha) and Jules Cluzel (NRT) by 0.019 and 0.028 seconds, respectively. Australia’s Anthony West (EAB West Racing Kawasaki) was 15th at the close of Friday.

The World Supersport 300 field was led by Dutchman Scott Deroue (Kawasaki), with Australian newcomer Tom Edwards (Nutec Benjan Kawasaki) in 32nd position at the conclusion of Friday’s running.

Detailed results