Josh Brookes returned to the top of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship timesheets in the final session of day one at the R&G Official Test at Silverstone, despite a crash in the final 20 minutes at Copse.
The conditions remained cool for the final action of the day as the majority of the riders headed out for the first time, but double Champion Brookes was one of the first to leave pitlane and set the early benchmark.
Kyle Ryde continued his pre-season testing form by then moving ahead of his BMW rival, but the LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha rider didn’t maintain the position as Brookes moved back ahead before crashing out unhurt at Copse.
Brookes said: "Things are working out really well with FHO Racing. The weather hasn't really been that kind to us during testing, so we're sort of forced to go out and try and make the most of the damp conditions.
"I’ve always tried to be the first out on track and make the most of the time available, when really in these conditions you just would like to sit in the in the garage and wait for better days, but we don’t have that luxury. For us it’s important to get track time just with the limited time we’ve had with the new bike, so every time there’s a green light session, I’m out on track.
"Today has been good and bad. Obviously, we finished the last session of the day fastest, but also ended with a crash. We have focussed mostly on engine braking today after some concerns about how the bike has been performing during the braking phase. There's been a point to when I felt like I've been sort of pushed on into turns and other times when the bike's got too much engine brake and it's sliding.
"So, we were kind of massaging the settings that the bike can offer to try and one get more load on the rear tyre to gain more grip on entry. But then also adjusting the electronics that allow us to let the bike roll into the turn without the back skidding too much. I feel like now we're in quite a good window, but I don't know without having a full like running session of dry weather and multiple laps to confirm, I can't be sure, but at the moment it feels good."
Danny Buchan was third fastest for SYNETIQ BMW ahead of Jason O'Halloran who was back on track for McAMS Yamaha and Peter Hickman who completed the top five.
Christian Iddon was sixth for Oxford Products Racing Ducati with Andrew Irwin and Tim Neave completing the top eight on the second McAMS Yamaha. Ryan Vickers was ninth for LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha and Luke Mossey completed the top ten.
