Jonathan Rea turned up the heat on his rivals for the Bennetts British Superbike crown with a fast-lapping performance at Snetterton to head the free practice leaderboard ahead of the fifth round at the high speed Norfolk circuit.

The HM Plant Honda powered in a 1m 05.149secs lap and was looking to better that performance in the closing minutes of the session, only to take a tumble without injury at Sears.

“The front end just went out of line, but I am OK and the bike is not damaged, so everything should be fine for the rest of the weekend,” he reflected as he prepares for races in which he intends to make deep inroads into the 60 points deficit he currently has on the series leading former champion Gregorio Lavilla.

Rea is full of confidence, as his nearest rival on the leaderboard, Shane `Shakey' Byrne who ran less than half a second down aboard the Stobart Vent Axia Motorsport Honda. The former champion was delighted with his performance at a circuit where in the corresponding round last year he crashed out, heavily, in the opening minutes of practice.

“We've got the balance right for this circuit. It is one of those places where to have to be really brave on the brakes and as we have the top speed, there is no reason why we cannot continue to be up there,” reflected Byrne who had led the first session with a lap of 1m 05.717secs, improving on that by a tenth later in the afternoon.

Leon Haslam, fresh from his pair of second placings in the previous round at Oulton Park , put in a late charge, to set the third best time, 1m 05.695secs as he bids to open his victory account for the season. “I have taken a lot of confidence from my results at Oulton and believe that I can achieve another solid result here.

“It is a hard circuit for the Ducati as the long straights don't suit us so much, but we have achieved some good results here in the past. Last year I came second in both races here so I know I am capable of a good performance£ and with practice already going well am feeling good about it,” said Haslam, who ran a split second ahead of his Airwaves Ducati team-mate Lavilla.

Tommy Hill set fifth best time aboard the Virgin Media Optoma Loans Yamaha with the reigning champion, and last year's double race winner here, Ryuichi Kiyonari whose best lap of the 1.9517mile circuit came in a time of 1m 05.812secs.

Leon Camier, despite a tumble from his Bike Animal Honda midway through the second session, ran seventh, 1m 06.127secs, just ahead of Tom Sykes, who also tipped off without injury.£ Cal Crutchlow was another casualty, crashing at Coram, but again escaping with nothing worse than dented pride, as he finished just ahead of his tenth fastest Rizla Suzuki team-mate Chris Walker.

Tom Tunstall, riding the Hardinge Ice Valley Honda, set the pace among the British Superbike Cup riders, ahead of Marty Nutt, Tristan Palmer, James Buckingham, Neil Faulkner, Paul Barron and Malcolm Ashley.

ends