At the age of 36 the Japanese rider is one of the most experienced riders in the motorcycle racing scene. Kiyonari recently competed in the JSB category of the All-Japan Road Race Championship, but next year he will make his official comeback to the world stage, taking part in the all-new project launched by HRC to make its official return to production-based competition.
Kiyonari will make his full time return to the WorldSBK paddock after 10 years away, as he made his debut into the top class in and continued in , taking three victories. His success contributed to the 62 overall wins that have been achieved by Japanese riders since the start of the series.
Finishing the , and campaigns as second in the standings, Haga barely missed out on the champion's crown on several occasions. As if spurred on by Ito, a cadre of R6 riders consisting of Noriyuki Haga 41 , Chalermpol Polamai 65 and Anthony West 13 came alive, putting four Yamaha riders in the top four positions at one point.
But Ito continued to hang onto the lead, and as the race neared its end, the battle for the win would be between Ito and West.
The two riders put all their effort into a heated back-and-forth duel. With three laps remaining, West made a move at the R corner to take the lead, but Ito quickly returned the favor the next lap on the back straight. On the final lap, Ito was passed back by West through the Reverse Bank corner, setting up braking for the final chicane as the final showdown. Ito braked late and was able to close in on West, but was not quite close enough for a pass. He mounted one last effort at the final corner, but in the end West came across the finish line in 1st with Ito right behind him in 2nd.
Ito's teammate, Keminth Kubo 64 , came across the line in 13th at the end of the first lap. Racing hard against the local Japanese riders well-experienced around Suzuka Circuit, he managed to gradually improve his position. Kubo was able to pass him for 10th, but Kubo crashed shortly after in the motorcycle-racing chicane in the R curve.
He was unable to restart, resulting in a DNF. But the incident hardened his determination to finish in the top 10 in Race 2. Race 2 turned into an even more fiercely contested battle. Ito wedged into 2nd off the start and did a repeat of Race 1 as he pulled into the lead on the first lap and began to control the pace from the front.
In the early stages, the biggest threats to Ito were from fellow R6 rider Chalermpol Polamai and Honda-mounted polesitter Ikuhiro Enokido This was especially true for Polamai, who would pass Ito only to be repassed as the two see-sawed back and forth at the front on every lap.
But Polamai gradually faded from contention for the lead and Ito soon found his main rival for the weekend back on his tail, Race 1 victor Anthony West. West began to close in on the rapidly fleeing Ito, slowly but steadily narrowing the gap until he made a pass stick at the Degner curve on lap 9 to take the lead. But Ito was not about to give up. He latched onto the back of West and looked for any passing opportunity, mounting attacks on the back straight, at R and at the final chicane.
But as the race wound down, West clicked into overdrive and left Ito behind, building up a gap that left Ito no opportunities to retaliate and taking a stellar double win at Suzuka. While West was powering towards victory, Ito was left to contend with Suzuki's hard-charging Yukio Kagayama 71 and Honda's Taiga Hada 23 , pouring all his energy into keeping them at bay.
Ito held them off at the major passing points--the chicane and the final corner--to retain his position and take the checkers for another 2nd place podium finish. As the series leaders were not able to take similar results, Ito's solid performance put him 2nd in the series standings with a point deficit to 1st and a 3-point gap from 3rd. With three more rounds to go, Ito is in a position to claw back points and fight for the title.
Kubo, who was in 14th after the first lap, had a series of mistakes that saw him jump up and down the order, making for an unsteady race. There were positives to be taken, however, as he made improvements everywhere, such as setting lap times in the mid-2'13s--a mark he had been unable to hit for most of the weekend--before finishing in 14th.
Polamai fought hard to stay near the front after losing touch with the leaders in the middle of the race, but hung on to finish among the top 5 with 5th place. Compared to the previous two rounds, the R25 riders were facing a challenging weekend. But in Race 1, Sarmoon overcame his difficult qualifying position with a strong ride. The Thai rider made a brilliant start, passing three riders in the dash to the first corner and working his way into 3rd to kick off his race. He was at times on the tail end of the leading group and at other times made his way inside it, battling as the lone Yamaha against riders from rival manufacturers.
But his challenge came to an end in the second half of the race. You can change this and find out more by following: Cookie Policy or Close.
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