ten Kate laments Kiyonari inconsistency

Ronald ten Kate admits he does not know why Ryuichi Kiyonari's form continues to fluctuate between rounds following the Japanese rider's run to a best of 12th at Kyalami just a week after finishing on the podium at Monza.

Following an indifferent start to the season, Kiyonari had looked to have turned a corner in Italy, proving on the pace throughout the weekend and scoring a pair of podiums finishes.

However, Kyalami was a different story for the former British Superbike champion, Kiyonari emerging with a 12th and a 13th place finish around a circuit that witnessed a first podium for team-mate Jonathan Rea and strong performances from Honda counterparts Leon Haslam and Carlos Checa too.

Indeed, team manager ten Kate says he is perplexed by Kiyonari's inconsistency, but is confident he can 'regroup' for the following round at Miller Motorsports Park.

"On the Hannspree side of the garage, we have had a good result with Jonathan Rea on the podium today and, of course, Kiyo-san was there himself last week in Monza," he said. "It's strange that on some tracks he is flying and on others he seems to struggle. We'll regroup before travelling to the USA and everyone will work as hard as they can to give him a bike that he is comfortable with there."

Kiyonari himself blamed problems with set-up, pointing out that Monza and Kyalami require two very different styles of riding.

"It's been a difficult day and a difficult weekend. We changed the tyre for race two but really we knew that this was not the problem. Kyalami is a very difficult circuit for me - very bumpy and it needs a completely different riding style to Monza last week.

"I guess I didn't quite find the right style. We had a lot of problems so it's difficult for me to know which one we should really concentrate on. I can only hope Miller will be better for me - it was not so good last year, but we will try hard again and hope for better things."