Ryuichi Kiyonari has admitted to feeling a mixture of nerves and excitement ahead of his return to the British Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch this weekend. The three-time former champion is back in BSB with Samsung Honda and is targeting nothing less than a record fourth title.
“I am looking forward to the first races of the season but I am also a bit nervous; I always get nervous before the start of a season! It’s exciting for me to be back in the championship with Samsung Honda – testing has been good, but now all I want to do is race. I’ve come back to get good results again for myself, the team and the British fans. I want to show that I’m not finished, that I can be faster and can win again. There are many good riders in the championship like Shakey, Alex (Lowes) and Josh (Brookes) so it won’t be easy, but I’ll be trying very, very hard to win again.”
Teammate Alex Lowes was a contender himself with WFR Honda last year, qualifying for the showdown and claiming his first BSB win in the process, and the youngster is looking forward to the serious business starting after a frustrating winter.
“I feel like I’m really prepared for the start of the season; even after our first test I felt I was riding like I did at the end of last year. I’m feeling good and I’m not worried that the weather wasn’t the best at the tests because I’m happy with myself and the team and when I’m in that situation that’s when I tend to be quick. We’ve had testing but racing is completely different and I can’t wait to get started as I think from the start everyone is going to be really close.”
