Bennetts Suzuki's Ryuichi Kiyonari is enjoying his time with his new team and on the GSX-R1000, and was shocked by just how strong he was in the opening sessions of the official MCE British Superbike test at Silverstone.

The three-time BSB champion was top of the time-sheets in the session one and is already feeling quite comfortable onboard his machine. He is working well with his mechanics and is pleased with how well the Suzuki is handling at the moment.

In the second outing he was fourth quickest, and ended the day well inside the top twenty in sixteenth on the sheets. The Japanese rider still has some parts to test out with his crew and will continue to improve the set-up of the bike.

"I am feeling very good I am surprised I finished top six [in session two] and in the morning session I did well," said Kiyonari, speaking to bikesportnews.com from the circuit.

"I couldn't believe how strong the lap times were compared to last year, and so far so good with this team and the GSXR. We will try and improve massively our set-up and balance, and also we have some other new parts to try and we will see how we get on."