Leon Haslam shrugged aside the lingering discomforts of leg injuries to set the pace in free practice ahead of the Holiday Monday fourth round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Oulton Park.

The Airwaves Ducati rider who had set pole time for the corresponding round of last year ran consistently, putting in a race distance run, as he prepared for races in which he is determined to take his first victory of the season.

“I've not had the best of starts to the season, but I am going to change that. The bike is working well, and I am feeling confident with it now,” said the 23 year old Derbyshire rider who crashed at high speed during practice for the previous round. “My leg is still sore, and I am taking pain-killers, but it is not affecting me. I put in a race run to ensure the set-up of my bike and will be looking to do another before the final qualifying session.”

Haslam put in a best lap of 1m 35.871secs, an average speed of 101.08mph which was just enough to head off the challenge of 20 year old Ballyclare rider Jonathan Rea who closed his HM Plant Honda within 0.003secs as the two `young-guns' ran ahead of the three most recent winners of the crown.

Shane `Shakey' Byrne, who had at one point had led the time-sheets, ran third fastest aboard the Stobart Vent-Axia Motorsport Honda in a time of 1m 36.011secs, just ahead of the current series leader Gregorio Lavilla, with last Sunday's Silverstone double winner, Ryuichi Kiyonari fifth best in a time of 1m 36.344secs.

Tom Sykes maintained his progress, having graduated from Supersport racing, to be only half a second down on Haslam, as he headed off the threat of Virgin Media Optoma Loans Yamaha rider Tommy Hill by a tenth with Karl Harris, the rider who set the outright Superbike record at the Cheshire circuit last July, running back in eighth place with a best time of 1m 36.653secs on the Hydrex Honda.

Cal Crutchlow was the faster of the two Rizla Suzuki riders, running almost three quarters of a second up on Chris Walker, while Bike Animal Honda rider Leon Camier was sandwiched in between them. Michael Rutter completed the top twelve with his Isilon MSS Discovery Kawasaki.

Hudson Kennaugh, the former South African champion, who is making his Superbike debut, as rider replacement for the injured James Haydon, put in a hard working performance aboard the Virgin Media Optoma Loans Yamaha. He packed in 23 laps, the best of which was in a time of 1m 38.740secs, to be sixteenth overall.

Tristan Palmer, riding the THR Honda, was the best of the British Superbike Cup qualifiers, with a lap of 1m 40.659secs, a quarter of a second up on James Buckingham. Paul Barron, Malcolm Ashley, Tom Tunstall and Neil Faulkner completed the Privateers category.

ends