BSB Thruxton

Well it was cold, windy and pretty horrible all round today (Friday) at Thruxton. The first day of the British superbike meet passed with little gossip, slander or major drama, and leading the way after the first two free sessions was Cal Crutchlow on the HM Plant Honda. ...

Well it was cold, windy and pretty horrible all round today (Friday) at Thruxton. The first day of the British superbike meet passed with little gossip, slander or major drama, and leading the way after the first two free sessions was Cal Crutchlow on the HM Plant Honda. Half a second back was his team-mate, Leon Haslam, with Karl Harris continuing his fine form on the Rob Mac 'Legend' Yamaha R1.

Shakey Byrne filled fourth on the Airwaves 1098R, with Michael Rutter impressing on his North West 200 Ducati 1098 – must be the rough Thruxton circuit. Guy Martin missed most on first practice, so did our chum from Brum , Luke Quigley, both with mechanical problems. As did another mate, Paul Young, who managed to blow up two Triumph 675 motors, one in each of his supersport sessions.

Jon 'JP' Pearson marked his first trip round Thruxton with an eighth in the KTM SUperDuke Battle practice. Go and cheer him on all weekend! As I said last year, if you're coming from the north, get off the A34 and get onto the A343 to Andover. It's a cracker!