JR tops practice times at Brands.

Rizla Suzuki rider John Reynolds topped both of today's dry one-hour long practice sessions on his Rizla Suzuki GSX-R1000 at the sixth round of the British Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch and then declared he is back where he belongs and means to stay there.

Reynolds is completely recovered from his early season broken collarbone injury and was blisteringly fast during today's practice sessions.

"I consciously wanted to be top of the time sheets today as that is where we belong," said Reynolds, "I am now fully recovered from my broken collarbone and the bike is fantastically fast. The top of the time sheets and the rostrum is where we should be and that's my aim this weekend.

"Today we worked on every aspect of the bike and we now have a very good base setting, but there is still a lot of work to do and I'm sure quite a bit more time to come. It's nice being as quick as anyone and still having a lot of improvements to put in place.

"The new section at Dingle Dell replaces the double apex with a single apex but will not make a huge difference to the lap time. It is still pretty bumpy around there. Regardless, Brands is my favourite circuit and I am pumped to do well this weekend."

Team-mate Yukio Kagayama, coming off the back of a successful World Superbike weekend at Silverstone, spent today learning the twists and turns of the Kent track and ended up tenth on the time sheets.

"I am still learning this circuit as it is new to me," said Kagayama, "I enjoyed a track day here on the Indy circuit, but this is my first time on the GP track. It is a good track and I am not rushing to learn it too quickly and risking making a mistake.

"My bike is based on my Silverstone settings from WSB so we know it is good. Now it is time to refine the GSX-R1000 as I get faster around this circuit. Tomorrow I will be faster and then hopefully on Sunday quicker again. John is riding very well and my aim is to match his race pace."

The Superbikes are using the 2.6082-mile long GP circuit at Brands Hatch that features a revised layout at Dingle Dell. Before the racing on Sunday, both John Reynolds and Yukio Kagayama will be taking two lucky winners of a Black Horse Finance Promotion around the track as pillion passengers. To help the passengers stay onboard, Rizla Suzuki will be using new Triboseat covers - the Triboseat goes over the pillion seat and helps the passenger to stop sliding about under hard acceleration or braking.

Friday practice - Top 10 times:

1. John Reynolds Suzuki 1m 27.518s
2. Shane Byrne Ducati +0.069s
3. Steve Hislop Yamaha +0.155s
4. Sean Emmett Ducati +0.155s
5. Michael Rutter Ducati +0.443s
6. Glen Richards Kawasaki +0.691s
7. Gary Mason Yamaha +0.695s
8. John McGuinness Ducati +1.151s
9. Steve Plater Honda +1.362s
10. Yukio Kagayama Suzuki +1.460s