HM Plant Honda's British Superbike star Ryuichi Kiyonari is not sure whether he will get to ride in this weekend's Suzuka Eight-Hours race as he has been selected as the reserve rider with test mules Shinichi Itoh and Kosuke Akiyoshi in the hot seat.

Despite the fact Kiyonari has won the race, which is massively important to Honda, three times he is the third selection for the TSR team which means that he will only race if something happens to one of the others.

“This year I will ride for TSR with Ito san and Akiyoshi san. I am the third rider and I don’t know the tactics of the team. I don’t know whether I will ride or not, but still we will aim for the win, nothing else. I have been watching this team race with Ito san and Akiyoshi san since I began racing myself. They are both great riders and I am sure I can learn a lot from them," said Kiyonari.

"This year, the race starts one hour early; that means the race will be hotter and tougher physically. Still, we will try our best to achieve our goal.”