Among those happy to see WSBK rookie
Ryuichi Kiyonari take a debut double race victory at
Brands Hatch on Sunday was former BSB title rival Gregorio Lavilla.
Lavilla beat Kiyonari to the British crown in 2005, with the Japanese taking the title in 2006 and 2007. Both then switched to World Superbikes this season, Kiyonari with the title-winning Ten Kate Honda team and Lavilla - who raced in WSBK from 2000-2003 - with former BSB champion's Paul Bird Motorsport.
Brands provided both riders with the chance to exploit their BSB experience and Kiyonari was quick all weekend, qualifying third on the grid before beating double world champion
Troy Bayliss to a close debut victory in race one, then overcoming countryman
Noriyuki Haga for a dream repeat in race two.
Lavilla's weekend wasn't as spectacular, although he very nearly upset the form book by being fastest for most of Saturday's rain-interrupted Superpole session - before the track dried, dropping him to 13th. The Spaniard then recorded 13th and 14th place finishes in the two races, but was buoyed by what Kiyo had achieved.
"Brands is a track which I have beaten Kiyo on before in BSB so it was really great to see him win the double here and I want to congratulate him," said Lavilla.
"We made some good improvements to the bike in the second race and we put in some good lap times, "he explained."We were consistent once again and within the points but I wasn't able to improve much on my qualifying position during the race so we have to keep working hard on set-up and move up to the next level which I hope we can achieve at
Donington."
Donington Park is another round that both Kiyonari and Lavilla know intimately from British Superbike racing.
Kiyonari's best result prior to Brands Hatch was a third position at Monza, while Lavilla's highest placing so far this season is seventh position. Kiyonari now holds eighth in the championship standings with Lavilla 14th.
Lavilla's new team- mate Chris Walker finished 15th in both races.
