LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha’s local man Kyle Ryde continued his Donington Park Bennetts BSB form by setting the pace in the opening free practice session of the weekend.

Ryde’s best effort of 1m28.411s put him almost four tenths of a second clear of his nearest opposition in the form of BeerMonster Ducati’s championship leader Glenn Irwin.

While Ryde, a double race winner at the circuit earlier in the season, enjoyed a decent gap over his rivals, it was much closer behind Irwin, who was just seven thousandths of a second clear of Ryde’s teammate Ryan Vickers.

McAMS Yamaha’s Jason O’Halloran was fourth and 0.076s away from Vickers, and an almost identical margin ahead of ROKiT BMW Motorrad’s Leon Haslam in fifth, Ryde’s fellow local aiming to take his first win of the season to ignite his title challenge.

Irwin’s teammate Tommy Bridwell was sixth, just over a tenth of a second away from Haslam and 0.083s ahead of FHO Racing BMW Motorrad’s Peter Hickman, with MasterMac Honda by Hawk Racing’s Charlie Nesbitt just 0.031s further back in eighth.

Josh Brookes (FHO Racing BMW Motorrad) and Lee Jackson (Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki) completed the top-10, which was covered by less than a second.

The next Bennetts BSB session is the second free practice at 4pm.

Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Donington Park GP, Free Practice one result:
1. Kyle Ryde (LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha), 1m28.411s
2. Glenn Irwin (BeerMonster Ducati), +0.372s
3. Ryan Vickers (LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha), +0.379s
4. Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha), +0.455s
5. Leon Haslam (ROKiT BMW Motorrad), +0.529s
6. Tommy Bridewell (BeerMonster Ducati), +0.638s
7. Peter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW Motorrad), +0.721s
8. Charlie Nesbitt (MasterMac Honda by Hawk Racing), +0.752s
9. Josh Brookes (FHO Racing BMW Motorrad) +0.825s
10. Lee Jackson (Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki) +0.948s