TOMMY Hill showed he means business by reeling off the fastest lap in practice ahead of the sixth round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship on the all-new Snetterton 300 circuit.

The Swan Yamaha rider had been fourth fastest in the morning in Norfolk, but tweaks to his bike put him in the frame to challenge for the top spot on the leaderboard.

Hill delivered the goods with his final lap, setting a time of 1m 48.866secs, an average speed of 98.17mph.

"The new track is cool and such fun to ride," he said. "I'm still getting used to the new layout having put in less lap than most because of my crash in the pre-season test so it is really good that I am at the sharp-end of the timesheets already."

Hill's immediate target is to close the 21 points he trails John Hopkins by.

The American ran his Samsung Crescent Suzuki a third of a second down on Hill having ridden consistently throughout the day after setting the pace in the first session.

Michael Laverty on the second of the Guisborough-based Swan Yamahas set the sixth best time ahead of MSS Colchester Kawasaki's Gary Mason, while series leader Shane Byrne lapped in a best time of 1m 49.452secs on the HM Plant Honda in eighth.