Ryuichi Kiyonari gave Ten Kate Honda something to smile about after a superb performance in Superpole saw him climb from a provisional 16th to fifth on the grid at Brno.
His best ever qualifying position in World Superbikes, Kiyonari's pace comes as a surprise given he has struggled to make an impression on proceedings in recent races and very nearly failed to make it through to Superpole.
Nonetheless, he squeezed through and as the first rider to set a time, produced a fine 1min 59.318secs lap, one that would keep him at the top of the timesheets until
Michel Fabrizio the eighth rider to go out finally toppled him.
Even then his time would not be bettered by
Fonsi Nieto, Max Neukirchner and Jakub Smrz, leaving Kiyonari just off the front row in fifth place.
I am very happy with my Superpole lap, he said. I qualified sixteenth and made my way up to fifth place on the grid. That's a big jump as I'm normally not strong in the one lap attack.
My feeling with the machine and the tyres was good today on my best lap. We tried a different setting today and the feeling was improving throughout the sessions.
However, Kiyonari was still playing down his hopes in race conditions, the reigning British Superbike rider admitting his race pace is still not quite good enough.
The pace is good but still not fast enough. I'll try and make a good start tomorrow and then find the connection with the fast group and work from there. I'll need to push hard in the first laps for a good result.
