The opening day of on track action at Donington Park in the UK saw Team Hero EBR riders Aaron Yates and Geoff May continue to close the gap to leading riders.

In addition to the iconic British circuit being new to both riders, all three Free Practice sessions that would determine the participants in Tissot-Superpole tomorrow were run today in cold, overcast and constantly changing weather conditions which added to the set-up challenge.

After overnight rain, the opening session saw both EBR 1190RX riders soon up to speed at the circuit where the World Superbike began in 1988.

At the end of the three 45 minute sessions Aaron missed out on Tissot-Superpole by a little more than half a second. Geoff on the other hand was hampered by an electrical problem leaving him in 25th position but with the chance to improve tomorrow.

Aaron Yates:  “After a few laps I had a good feeling both with the track and the bike. I especially appreciated the traction control. I had some little problems with setting up the brakes in the last two sessions and I could not improve as much as I wanted. Anyway I really look forward to racing on this track on Sunday.”

Geoff May: “We worked hard all the day but I had to spend all my time learning the track and improving the set-up of the bike. I am sorry an electrical problem stopped me from riding the last session but I really hope tomorrow we can make some further improvements.”