Farmer fends off Ducatis in FP2, Barbera in top five
Keith Farmer upstages the Ducati trio to top FP2, while ex-MotoGP man Hector Barbera cracks top five at the end of his first day in BSB
Donigton Park BSB - Free Practice Results (2)
Keith Farmer held off a trio of Ducatis to emerge with the Friday benchmark time during second free practice for the third round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Donington Park, while ex-MotoGP rider Hector Barbera cracked the top five.
Having led the BMW challenge in FP1 with the fourth quickest time, Farmer was in even stronger form during FP2 with a series of rapid laps on the Tyco-prepared S1000RR peaking with a 1m 06.475s lap.
It was enough to just resist Josh Brookes and Scott Redding who, having spent much of the FP2 session outside of the top ten, sprung to the summit of the timesheets in the final minutes albeit not enough to unseat Ulsterman Farmer.
A tenth slower than he managed in en route to topping FP1, Redding was third quickest, while joint championship leader Tommy Bridewell confirmed the Ducati Panigale V4 R’s pace in fourth position.
Making his BSB debut this weekend, ex-MotoGP rider Hector Barbera was an eye-catching fifth quickest on the Quatto Plant JG Speedfit Kawasaki. Competing with the team that took Leon Haslam to title glory in 2018, Barbera was rapidly up to speed on the ZX-10R and was well ahead of team-mate Glenn Irwin down in 15th.
Luke Mossey led the OMG Suzuki challenge in sixth after team-mate Josh Elliott suffered a fall mid-session, ahead of top Yamaha rider Tarran Mackenzie, Smiths Racing’s Peter Hickman, Christian Iddon and Luke Stapleford.
Outside the top ten, Bradley Ray – a double winner at Donington Park in 2018 – was down in 13th, just behind top Honda representative Xavi Fores in 12th.
