Thursday, April 16, 2009

Get to know the grid: WSBK- Ryuichi Kiyonari #9

Ryuichi Kiyonari #9

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

SBK 2008 - Donington Park - Kiyonari Show



Ryuichi Kiyonari

Ryuichi Kiyonari 2007
Nationality Flag of Japan Japanese
Date of birth September 23, 1982
Place of birth Saitama, Japan






SBK Record
Current team Hannspree Ten Kate Honda
Bike number 23
World Championships 0
Race starts 11
Race Wins 3
Podium finishes 4
Pole positions 0
Fastest laps 1


2008 Championship position 8th (190pts)

Ryuichi Kiyonari (清成龍)(born September 23, 1982, in Saitama, Japan) is a professional motorcycle road racer. He is the 2006 and 2007 British Superbike champion, and he currently rides for Hannspree Ten Kate Honda in the Superbike World Championship. He also won the 2008 Suzuka 8-Hour race, teamed with his regular WSBK team-mate Carlos Checa. He has a reputation for being at his best when leading races from the front.

Early years

Kiyonari first raced in 1988 in motocross, which he later stated that he did not especially enjoy. He began circuit racing in 1996, and first raced in the All-Japan 125cc Championship in 1998. He continued in this class until 2001, with a shortage of big results, other than 9th place in the 2000 Suzuka 8-Hour race. However, for 2002 he switched to the All-Japan Supersport championship, which he won with four victories. He also took an All-Japan Superbike Championship victory at TI Aida.

MotoGP

He moved to MotoGP in early 2003 to replace the late Daijiro Kato in Fausto Gresini's Telefónica Movistar team. However, he received little support within the team, especially as team-mate Sete Gibernau challenged for the title, and failed to score much in the way of results. There were eight minor points finishes, leaving him 19th overall with a best of 11th.

British Superbike Championship

After coming 6th overall in the British Superbike Championship in 2004, 'Kiyo' won the first four races of 2005, before injuring his ankle in a heavy crash in round 5. He was back for round 9, and retook the championship lead from team-mate Michael Rutter, but eventually was overhauled by the improving Ducati of Lavilla and he finished the season runner up. He also raced in the Valencia Grand Prix for Sito Pons' Camel Honda team, finishing in the points.

In 2006 Ducati again had the upper hand early in the season, with Kiyonari closest to their riders, Lavilla and Leon Haslam. A double victory at Silverstone in the penultimate round kept him in close contention for the title. However, in the double point final round at Brands Hatch, after a win in race one (he was leading when Shane Byrne's heavy crash caused a stoppage - much to Haslam's visible frustration), Kiyonari only needed to finish third in the final race. Kiyonari finished 2nd in the shortened race behind Haslam, thus winning the championship by 8 points.

The 2007 season started at Brands Hatch, a track Kiyo admits he does not like, and his results there were unspectacular, with Jonathan Rea and Leon Camier performing better on their Hondas. However, he took a double win in round three, and a further win in race 2 at Oulton Park, to lie second to Lavilla after four rounds. Finally defended his British champion status at Brands Hatch to win the championship for the second time in succession.

Superbike World Championship

In 2008 Ryuichi Kiyonari made his Superbike World Championship debut, having reached an agreement with the reigning champion team Ten Kate Honda, to partner Carlos Checa and Kenan Sofuoğlu.

In the second race at Monza, Kiyonari nearly had his first SBK win. Kiyonari was in front as they braked for the final entry into the Parabolica but went wide on the exit and Noriyuki Haga and Max Neukirchner edged him out - Haga for the win and Neukirchner claiming second by a gap of just .009. Kiyonari finished third with a gap of .051, his first Superbike podium. His first two wins came at Brands Hatch, beating Troy Bayliss in race 1 and Noriyuki Haga in race 2. He briefly led the very next race at Donington Park, but fell on lap 2. However, he did win the second race in very wet conditions, visibly sliding the rear end of his bike on many occasions. Kiyonari broke his collarbone in a testing crash at Magny Cours, 2 weeks prior to the event, meaning he missed the race.

For 2009, Kiyo stays with the Ten Kate Honda team, partnering Carlos Checa and Jonathan Rea. His bike is backed by Honda Europe rather than Hannspree.

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