FIRST POLE FOR KIYONARI
18 September 2004 - Honda Racing

Ryuichi Kiyonari has clinched his first pole position of the 2004 British Superbike Championship at the final round at Donington Park in a spectacular display of dominance aboard the HM Plant Honda Racing CBR1000RR Fireblade.

His previous best position and only other front row start was a fourth place at the opening round at Silverstone.

The 21-year-old Japanese star led the majority of the afternoon session after improving on team-mate Michael Rutter’s best time from this morning’s first qualifying period. Both HM Plant Honda Racing riders recorded times inside the existing lap record of 1:32.830 set by the late Steve Hislop.

Leicestershire-based Rutter maintained his 100 per cent record as the only rider to have started every race of the season from the front row after qualifying in third position. The 31-year-old Kirkby Mallory rider’s rival and series leader John Reynolds starts the race from row two after qualifying in fifth place. His team-mate Yukio Kagayama managed eighth position despite crashing twice at Coppice corner.

Rutter has admitted that he will need a minor miracle to bridge the 43-point gap between himself and his main adversary to win the championship. However, despite that he is still intent on claiming a double victory at round 13 to ensure that he has the highest number of wins of any rider in the series.

The HM Plant Hondas also topped the morning session and were the fastest in free practice yesterday. Rutter had consistently been first or second before being relegated to third in the final ten minutes of qualifying by a fraction of a second by Sean Emmett.

Michael Rutter: “I achieved my personal goal of qualifying on the front row of the grid at every round this season – I’ve got to be happy with that. I’m also really pleased for Kiyo and hope that we can finish the season on a high for HM Plant Honda Racing. Ideally, I’d like to think that I could win both races, but I know that it’s going to be a close call. I’ll be concentrating on my own race and let destiny decide the outcome of the championship.”

Ryuichi Kiyonari: “I am very happy with my first pole position for HM Plant Honda Racing. I have ridden at Donington Park last year in MotoGP and we have tested the Fireblade here too earlier in the season. This has made all the difference to my qualifying performance. I have not got the same experience of the other tracks that we have visited this year. Tomorrow I am going to push hard for what I hope to be my first win in the British Superbike Championship.”

Qualifying times: 1. R. Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda Racing) 1:31.952; 2. S. Emmett (Ducati) 1:32.810; 3. M. Rutter (HM Plant Honda Racing) 1:32.819; 4. G. Richards (Kawasaki) 1:32.903; 5. J. Reynolds (Suzuki) 1:32.938; 6. J. McGuinness (Kawasaki) 1:33.650; 7. D. Thomas (Ducati) 1:33.654; 8. Y. Kagayama (Suzuki) 1:33.709; 9. S. Smart (Kawasaki) 1:33.925; 10. S. Plater (Yamaha) 1:33.979

www.honda-racing.co.uk

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