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[Andy]

Ryuichi Kiyonari, the former two times winner of
the title, returns to head up the factory backed
HM Plant Honda team’s bid to regain the MCE
Insurance British Superbike crown, the chase for
which begins with a double race opening round on
the short and undulating Brands Hatch Indy Circuit on Easter Monday, 5 April.

The 27-year-old Japanese rider is excited by the
challenge as he returns to the British scene for
a fifth season with the Louth-based Honda team,
riding their latest version of the proven
race-winning CBR1000RR with Australian team-mate
Josh Brookes aboard a similar specification machine.

Brookes is back for a second term with the team
which is looking very strong as they prepare to
put Honda back on top of the British title
standings, with that cause re-inforced by the
privately entered Swan Honda team of last year’s
runner-up James Ellison and Stuart Easton, third in the final positions then.

Between them, they expect to be dominant forces,
with Kiyonari, back from two tough years in the
World Superbike Championship, relaxed and ready
to start. “I feel that I am back at home now I am
here with this team,” he explained. “I have the
same people working with me and everything around me is good.

“I am excited to be racing here, and although it
will be hard, as there are many good riders in
the championship, I want to win. I had some of my
best times riding with this team and now I want
that to continue,” added Kiyonari who, having
made his debut in Britain in 2004, won the title in 2006 and 2007.

Kiyonari will be hard pressed by 26-year-old
Brookes who is keen to show his real potential
after a difficult, incident-packed 2009 season.
“I expect a lot of myself, probably higher than a
lot of other people set themselves, but I take a
great pride in riding for the team at this level for them.”

Brookes, with ten podium finishes and a strong
ending to his 2009 campaign, finished fourth
overall last term. “I have to maintain and build
on the momentum of last year and now I am anxious
and excited to get back racing, although this
opening round is on a circuit I don’t like too much as it is so short.

“The lap times are so close here and that makes
it difficult to make up any time, even to find a
tenth of a second, but, that said, I am feeling
positive from the start,” added Brookes who is
expecting quite a fight with Kiyonari.

“He wants to win, and so do I. Kiyo is a fun
character, but being a double champion shows how
strong a rider he is – for both of us, winning
the title is the target,” said Brookes.

The home threat of Ellison, who rode for the
Shaun Muir-owned Swan Honda team in 2008,
returning to them after a season riding Yamaha,
will be high. “It was a bit unexpected, as I had
a two year deal with GSE but they pulled out, and
I had the chance to return – I am really happy
about it, having a good team around me who get on with the job.

“It will be a hard season, Kiyonari is back, as
is another champion Neil Hodgson, but I am happy
with my bike, which is just as I want it. I feel
more comfortable on it than I did on the Yamaha,
so I believe I will be stronger in the races.

“The first round will be spectacular, the circuit
is short and you cannot get away, so there could
be a bunch of 15 riders up front with very little
between them. It is difficult to pass, so a good
qualifying performance is very important,” added Ellison.

His team-mate, former British Supersport champion
Easton, has been well on the pace in testing but
suffered a set-back with a tumble in which he
sustained a badly gashed left leg. “I consider
myself lucky that it was nothing more, and now I
am stitched up and ready to go racing.

“My bike is much improved on last season, with
work on the electronics, and having won two races
last year, my clear goal now is to go for the
title. I have a strong team-mate in James but we
have worked well together in testing and
development, but come the races, we will both be
hungry to beat each other,” added Easton.

Ranged against them on the 35 strong starting
grid is a mix of the best of British and some top
International riders. Hodgson, returns, a decade
on from winning the British title, to ride for
Yamaha, while Japan's Yukio Kagayama, who
graduated onto the World scene after his previous
heroics in Britain, returns to ride Suzuki
alongside Tommy Hill and Michael Laverty.

The Lavertys are intent on making it a family
affair as Michael’s brother John races for
Kawasaki, as do Simon Andrews and Gary Mason.
Michael Rutter rides Ducati, while in the
Evolution class – a back-to-basics formula
designed to reduce costs, there are entries from riders aboard KTM and BMWs.

[The Addict]

Come on Tommy