Buildbase BMW’s Ryuichi Kiyonari had two epic battles with Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki’s Shane Byrne during the MCE British Superbike double-header at Silverstone, but even though he is feeling the ‘pressure’ from his rival he is happy he is there pushing him to be better.

Kiyonari sees Byrne as a ‘good target’ as it is making him a better rider and he enjoys the battles that they have on track. It was one a piece today, with Byrne snatching the race one victory from Kiyo and then the opposite happening in the final outing of the day – with Kiyo bagging the win.

He is only 12 points adrift of Byrne in the championship, and  Brands Hatch will be the circuit where the title will be decided – and the triple-champ is looking forward to the challenge.

“I tried to push really hard in race two to get a gap on Byrne, but he was so strong. In race two I really concentrated, but the last part of the race I kept thinking please Shakey don’t pass me, but I didn’t care about the tyre life - I just went for it," said Kiyonari, speaking to bikesportnews.com at the track.

“It is so much pressure riding in front of Shakey. He is my target and I have fun because he is a good rider and I am always looking at Shakey and I always think I have to beat him – if he goes then my target has gone. I really like him and he is a great rider too."

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