Buildbase BMW’s Ryuichi Kiyonari will start the first MCE British Superbike race from eighteenth on grid, after he admitted that he made the wrong decision during qualifying at Snetterton.

The triple-champ felt he should have gone out sooner in Q2 to put down some fast lap times. But a heavy rain shower dashed any hopes of the Japanese race lapping more than two. He had to retreat to the pits, and never made it out of the starting blocks again, as his best time of a 1’54.194 was not fast enough to place him inside the top ten on the time-sheets, and subsequently found himself in the drop zone.

The only rotations he did do were ones where he was stuck behind other riders and was unable to improve on his lap time. But Kiyo is feeling confident on his bike and is getting used once again to the S1000RR after a long break. But he knows what he has to do tomorrow to win a podium spot.

“In Q2 my decision was totally wrong, I went out but the traffic was not good as there were so many riders out there, and then I was on my way to a fast lap and the rain came and then Q2 finished - and that was not good today. I felt I should have gone out quicker,” said Kiyo, speaking to bikesportnews.com from the track.

“I have one more day, if I finished eighteenth in the race then that’s a bit problem, but eighteenth in qualifying is not as bad. I am very disappointed. The machine is feeling good and I tried too many laps, as I haven’t ridden since Oulton Park so I am getting used to the speed, track and bike - I will get better.”

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