Kiyonari doubles up at Brands
Added on Monday, August 4th, 2008 by Carole Nash Editor
Kiyonari doubles up at Brands
Ryuichi Kiyonari upset the odds at Brands Hatch yesterday to secure a double victory in the British leg of the World Superbikes Championship.
The reigning British Superbike champion secured his first ever victories on the world stage, just days after winning the Suzuka 8 hours endurance race in Japan.
Kiyonari’s previous experience of the Kent circuit allowed him to find the ideal set-up as race one was declared as wet, allowing him to keep pace with the front runners. The Japanese rider then took a thrilling first race after overtaking championship leader Troy Bayliss on lap 22, with just 0.180 seconds separating the top free as they crossed the finish line. Max Biaggi finished in third position.
British wildcard rider Tom Sykes impressed on his WSB debut, keeping pace with the leaders before a mechanical failure on lap nine ended his assault on the podium, costing him his third place position.
In race two, Kiyonari battled with compatriot Noriyuki Haga before breaking free from the Yamaha rider, crossing the line 1.848 seconds ahead of the Yamaha rider with Haga’s Yamaha teammate Troy Corser completing the podium.
Tom Sykes recovered from his race one disappointment to finish a respectable seventh.
After the race, Kiyonari claimed that he and the team were finally realising their WSB potential.
“I’m so happy, I cannot really believe it,” said Kiyonari. “We have been near the top of the leader board in all the sessions this weekend so we knew that we had a good race set up.
“The team worked hard to give me a great bike for both races and finally we have a win – no, two wins! – to celebrate. It wasn’t easy. I found it difficult to pass and I made a couple of mistakes.
“In race one, I was very nervous for the last few laps but in race two I was able to keep a good pace right to the end.”
