Ryuichi Kiyonari
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Ryuichi Kiyonari (清成龍一) is a Japanese motorcycle racer. He is the current British Superbike champion, and rides for the factory Honda team. He was runner-up to Gregorio Lavilla in 2005, but went one spot better in 2006. He has a reputation for being at his best when leading races from the front.
He raced in MotoGP for most of 2003 for Fausto Gresini's Telefónica Movistar team, but 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.
After coming 6th overall in BSB 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. He also raced in the Valencia MotoGP round 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.
