BYRNE AND KIYONARI AIM TO CONSOLIDATE THEIR TOP FOUR PLACINGS Ryuichi Kiyonari returns to his favourite Oulton Park circuit intent on an action replay of his winning ride there earlier in the year to boost his chances of taking the MCE Insurance British Superbike crown for a record fourth time. But he can expect to have tough questions posed by his HM Plant Honda team-mate Shane Byrne who is eager to end a four race run without a win to strengthen his position at the top of the standings as he bids to take the country’s premier title for a third time. The focus for them both is to consolidate their positions in the top four as they look to the future and the end of season “Showdown for the title” sequence of seven races for which only the leading six riders in the points after the ninth round at Cadwell Park qualify. Kiyonari returns to the Cheshire circuit, where so far he has enjoyed no less than ten race victories, from a hectic trip back home to Japan where he has worked hard on testing ahead of the Suzuka Eight Hours race. He hopes that the additional time on the bike will have helped him for his determined assault on the British crown. He has come through a difficult period, which left him on the back foot as he scored only seven points from four races, with renewed confidence in his Fireblade with the turning point coming in the second race at Knockhill where he took a fourth place, following that with a fifth, and then a victory, last time out a little fortuitously, at Snetterton. Byrne, the winner of three races so far, looked likely to add to that tally in the second race at Snetterton, but an aggressive last lap move by Suzuki riding title rival John Hopkins saw the bikes bash fairings with both riders losing ground. Byrne had to settle for fourth as Kiyonari took full advantage to win for the second time in the current campaign. Hopkins will again be a major threat. He took his maiden victory in BSB at this circuit back in May, enjoying his first visit to the top step of the podium in some 11 years and repeated that form with a second victory at Snetterton to stay in close contention, 19 points down, on Byrne. Tommy Hill will also be keen to make his mark at what is proving to be his jinx circuit. Last year a crash there cost him any chance of taking the British title, and earlier this year after setting pole time at record pace he crashed heavily during morning warm-up, seriously injuring his left shoulder and missing those races. Riding Yamaha, Hill is third in the standings, 20 points up on Kiyonari, and goes into these races keen to show what might have been but for those misfortunes. Behind the top four there is a pack of nine riders separated by 59 points squabbling for a place between the end of season “title-fighters” among them Tyco Honda’s Peter Hickman who needs to re-kindle the form he showed at Thruxton, where he took a career best second place, if he is to progress. And returning to the championship aboard the Sorrymate.com Honda will be former BSB and current World Supersport rider James Ellison who takes over from Dan Linfoot. And in the “back to basics” BSB-EVO class WFR Honda rider Glen Richards is keen to return to winning ways to maintain his lead in the standings although his team-mates Graeme Gowland and American Jake Zemke, winners last time out, will be giving him a tough time. Quotes from Honda riders ahead of Oulton Park: Shane Byrne (HM Plant Honda): “Oulton Park is a track I have mixed feelings about because I really like the track, but earlier in the season we did struggle a bit there and at the time I was so happy to have taken a third and fourth place. Let’s not forget though that we have made big steps forward since then so I am feeling pretty excited about the races this weekend. After Snetterton I am really pumped to go back out there and get back to winning.” Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) said: “I need to be more aggressive this weekend from the start. At Oulton Park you need a lot of confidence to push hard so we again will work hard from free practice to get it right. I feel happy with the bike and we have made improvement since the last round at Oulton Park when we won. A lot of people probably think I am one of the favourites for this weekend because I have had good results there before; I want to win again for our championship, but I think there will be a big fight as everyone wants to win.” More, from a press release issued by Swan Yamaha: SWAN YAMAHA SET SIGHTS ON OULTON PARK VICTORY The Swan Yamaha team return to Oulton Park this weekend as Tommy Hill and Michael Laverty bid to maintain their position in the top six in the overall MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship standings and score further podium credits for their title challenge. The Championship returns to the Cheshire circuit for the second time this season and both riders are seeking a change in fortune compared to the previous visit back in May. At the round earlier in the year Hill had set the pace securing pole position but had his weekend ended prematurely with a crash in warm up which left him carrying a shoulder injury. Laverty was in contention for the win but suffered arm pump, which he has since had an operation to resolve and scored two fifth places. The Swan Yamaha pairing are now expecting a strong performance this weekend as they target a return to the podium. Hill said: “After the nightmare of the second race at Snetterton I can’t wait to get back out on track. We have to start where we left off this weekend and I am feeling confident as last time we were at Oulton Park we had a good set-up and everything was going good for us. We took the pole position inside the lap record but then I had the crash in warm-up and that put me two races behind everyone else so that makes it important to get back on the top step of the podium. Everyone is stepping up their game and so will we this weekend. It is so important now to get results and those all important podium credits.” Laverty said: “I am looking forward to Oulton Park and trying to get the Swan Yamaha back on the podium where it belongs after a tough weekend at Snetterton. We know we have the pace there and I was having a good race and was in a position to challenge for the win until I got arm pump so it is looking positive. Everyone has moved forward since we were there before but I think as a team we have too. We need to pull some results out of the bag this weekend and get back on the podium to score some of those important credits for the championship.”