Cal Crutchlow ran consistently fast through free practice ahead of the Bank Holiday Monday third round of the British Superbike Championship at Oulton Park and is confident of a repeat of his maiden victory in the series last time out.

The HM Plant Honda rider jointly leads the early-season chase for the crown along with former title-holder Shane Byrne who is again on the pace at the Cheshire circuit, running within four-tenths of a second of Crutchlow's best time of one minute 36.596 seconds.

Byrne was relegated to third place on the leaderboard by Leon Haslam on the second Honda while Tom Sykes, riding Rizla Suzuki, ran fourth best, with a lap in 1:37.044secs, a third of a second up on NorthWest 200 Ducati rider Michael Rutter.

Crutchlow was delighted with his continuing progress and said: "We've tried one or two things and have made a big positive step forward. There are still a few things to test but the bike is handling well.

"My lap times have been consistent, and already I feel that we have a good race pace - we've had two very good sessions and I am feeling confident about these races.

"That first victory at Thruxton was a big milestone for me, but now I have to work hard for more and around me I have a team that is geared to winning races and the title."

Sporting Life / Eurosport