HM Plant Honda's Shane Byrne believes he will be able to maintain his championship leading form in the BSB at Thruxton this weekend.
Byrne dominated race two at Croft a fortnight ago and was only denied maximum points by an engine failure after he had led the opening race from pole position.
The 34-year-old is the only rider with more than one victory to his name in what has been a fiercely contested season, and has a three point lead over John Hopkins.
And 'Shakey' expects to be challenging for victory again on Bank Holiday Monday, with the high speed circuit expected to suit the Fireblade machine.
“We had another win last time out at Croft and I really want to maintain that momentum at Thruxton. I am really looking forward to the weekend and I think it should suit the HM Plant Honda Fireblade from a performance point of view.”
“Thruxton is all about speed and I think with a few more steps before the race we should be back up the front again and challenging for some more wins and those podium credits. The last time I raced there I had a win and last year HM Plant Honda won so hopefully that bodes well ahead of the weekend!”
With Stuart Easton suffering a season-ending injury at the North West 200, Ryuichi Kiyonari is effectively third in the championship, but a miserable weekend at Croft has left him 36 points behind his teammate.
The Japanese rider started race one in 14th after struggling in the wet qualifying session, but that was nothing compared to the troubles he would encounter on race day.
Kiyonari's decision to start the first race on wet tyres backfired as he trailed home in 25th, and he could only salvage a single point in the second from a lowly grid position.
But the 28-year-old is intent on putting the events of Croft behind him and returning to the top step of the podium.
“Last year Thruxton was a good race for the team with a win, although I just missed out on the podium. It was a very hard weekend at Croft for me and HM Plant Honda but I am going to Thruxton and I want to try and do again what I did at Oulton Park; I want to win and be back on the podium. I hope that we can work hard in free practice and qualifying to make changes to solve the problems we had at Croft so that we can be fast and pushing for wins.”
Team Manager Havier Beltran expects 'Kiyo' to return to his best form this weekend, and is expecting both his riders to be in the thick of the action.
“Following the Croft round we know we have the potential to have another good weekend at Thruxton. If you look at Shakey from the last round he looked like he could have taken a double win had it not been for the problem in the first race. He was in a class of his own so hopefully he can carry that momentum to Thruxton this weekend. For Kiyo we are aiming for a big turnaround from the last round and we have been working hard since Croft to make this happen. Thruxton is a circuit he likes so we should see the Kiyo that won at Oulton Park back this weekend.”
