Friday 27 June 2014 17:33, UK
Series leader Shane Byrne smashed the Knockhill lap record as he headed off the challenge of Ryuichi Kiyonari to top the free practice leaderboard ahead of Sunday's fourth round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship.
Byrne, runaway leader in the title stakes with five wins from six starts, clocked a best time of 48.243 seconds around the 1.2669mile Fife circuit aboard his Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki. That put him 0.254secs clear of Buildbase BMW's Ryuichi Kiyonari.
The championship leader had to settle for second to Kiyonari in in the first round of free practice, but the positions were reversed in the faster second session as the Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki rider commanded a lead of two tenths over his main rival.
Australia's Josh Brookes closed in on them aboard his Milwaukee Yamaha while Hawick rider Stuart Easton, aboard the second Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki, set the fourth fastest time and was less than half a second down on Byrne.
Similarly, it was a decent start to the weekend for Josh Hopkins on the Tyco Suzuki, the American leading Bathams BMW rider Michael Rutter and Chris Walker, while James Westmoreland and James Ellison also made the top ten.
