Rutter feeling the heat?

HM Plant Honda's Michael Rutter will start his home race from second on the grid in Sunday's two British Superbike races.

Rutter, who lives across the road to the Mallory Park circuit, has admitted that his HM Plant team-mate, Ryuichi Kiyonari, is the man to beat, especially at his home circuit where he has had arguably the most experience of all the BSB riders.

HM Plant Honda's Michael Rutter will start his home race from second on the grid in Sunday's two British Superbike races.

Rutter, who lives across the road to the Mallory Park circuit, has admitted that his HM Plant team-mate, Ryuichi Kiyonari, is the man to beat, especially at his home circuit where he has had arguably the most experience of all the BSB riders.

It is feared by Rutter that if he cannot beat Gregorio Lavilla on his Airwaves Ducati here this weekend, Kiyonari may runaway with the title during the remainder of season.

"This is an important event for me and I know that qualifying on the front row is a must at my home circuit," commented Rutter. "A good start can make the difference between winning and losing because it is so tight for overtaking around here. It goes without saying that my team-mate is the man to beat. I'm confident that we'll both be on the podium - it remains to be seen in which order!"

Meanwhile Kiyonari has answered his competitors attempts to challenge him by totally eclipsing all his fellow riders with his race set-up and subsequent race tyre times.

"This is a unique circuit in the British Superbike Championship, but I have happy memories of my debut here last season," admitted Kiyonari. "There are some very fast riders at Mallory Park, so I am expecting two hard races tomorrow. I have an excellent race set-up thanks to the support of the team."

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