A scintillating last lap effort from Alex Lowes has seen him end the first day of World Superbike action at the new Chang International Circuit on top of the timesheets as British riders locked out the top five positions. The FP2 session began with the field chasing a substantial margin to Jonathan Rea after he went more than a second faster than all but his team-mate Tom Sykes in FP1, the Ulsterman continuing to hold firm out front even when rivals got closer to him. Eventually it was Lowes that would get the better of his countryman in the final minutes, his time of 1min 34.685secs proving good enough to head off Rea's own improvement on the final circulation, the pair split by just a tenth of a second. Half a second further back, Chaz Davies was third fastest on the Ducati, ahead of Aprilia's Leon Haslam and Sykes on the second of the Kawasakis, the quintet ensuring an all-British top five at the close of the session. Defending champion Sylvain Guintoli was a significant mover between the sessions as he ascended to sixth fastest on the PATA Honda, but it was Troy Bayliss that captured much of the attention in FP2, the former champion quickly establishing a place inside the top ten early on in the session before going quicker again late on to end up seventh fastest, just a second off the top time. Similarly, Matteo Baiocco was a notable eighth quickest, ahead of Jordi Torres and David Salom, as competition looks close for the available ten spots straight through to Q2 tomorrow. On the cusp of the top ten was Leandro Mercado, Michael van der Mark, Randy de Puniet and Sylvain Barrier, while Nico Terol rounds out the top 15. 1. Alex Lowes GBR Voltcom Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 1m 34.685s 2. Jonathan Rea GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 1m 34.751s 3. Chaz Davies GBR Aruba.it Racing Ducati 1199R 1m 35.288s 4. Leon Haslam GBR Red Devils Roma Aprilia RSV4 1m 35.288s 5. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 1m 35.457s 6. Sylvain Guintoli FRA PATA Honda CBR1000RR 1m 35.570s 7. Troy Bayliss AUS Aruba.it Racing Ducati 1199R 1m 35.690s 8. Matteo Baiocco ITA Althea Ducati 1199R 1m 35.913s 9. Jordi Torres ESP Red Devils Roma Aprilia RSV4 1m 35.943s 10. David Salom ESP Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 1m 36.055s 11. Leandro Mercado ARG Barni Ducati 1199R 1m 36.105s 12. Michael van der Mark NED PATA Honda CBR1000RR 1m 36.218s 13. Randy de Puniet FRA Voltcom Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 1m 36.263s 14. Sylvain Barrier FRA BMW Italia S1000RR 1m 36.308s 15. Nico Terol ESP Althea Ducati 1199R 1m 36.391s 16. Leon Camier GBR MV Agusta F4 RR 1m 36.940s 17. Roman Ramos ESP GO Eleven Kawasaki ZX-10R 1m 37.632s 18. Niccolo Canepa ITA Team Hero EBR 1190RX 1m 37.692s 19. Christophe Ponsson LUX Grillini Kawasaki ZX-10R 1m 37.824s 20. Santiago Barragan ESP Grillini Kawasaki ZX-10R 1m 37.964s 21. Anucha Nakcharoensri THA YSS TS Honda CBR1000RR 1m 38.174s 22. Greg Gildenhuys RSA Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 1m 48.767s 23. Larry Pegram USA Team Hero EBR 1190RX 1m 38.772s 24. Imre Toth HUN Team Toth BMW S1000RR 1m 39.256s 25. Ireneusz Sikora POL Team Toth BMW S1000RR 1m 40.719s 26. Chanon Chumjai THA RAC Oil BMW S1000RR 1m 40.810s
