Hot from a third place podium at the Suzuka 8 Hours last Sunday, Jonathan Rea took the top spot in today’s free practice at the Silverstone circuit.
The Ten Kate Honda rider put in a best lap of 1′06.
927 in the final minutes of session and was the only rider to break the 2.
07 mark beating out fellow Brit James Toseland in second by a mere 0.
077s.
All seven regular British riders were in the top ten in this first session on the new revised Silverstone track.
The third spot went to Leon Haslam followed by Sterilgarda Yamaha rider Cal Crutchlow, who was separated from Haslam by less than a tenth of a second.
Fifth went to Troy Corser who is fully recovered after his crash at Brno that kept him out of both races.
The Ducati Althea Racing duo Shane Byrne and Carlos Checa were sixth and seventh and Aprilia Alitalia’s Leon Camier took eighth.
The ninth spot went to Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes followed by Noriyuki Haga who closed out the top ten.
Current points leader Max Biaggi was only 18th, but he is rarely in the top spots in the first free practice.
Honda HM Plant’s wild card riders Joshua Brookes and Ryuichi Kiyonari (who won the Suzuka 8 Hours) were only 15th and 21st.
Tommy Bridewell who is also wildcarding with the Tyco Racing Honda team took 23rd, while Chris Vermeulen’s replacement rider Akira Yanagawa was last.