Crash puts paid to Kiyo's race hopes at Donington

Ryuichi Kiyonari travelled to Donington Park for the 10th round of the British Superbike championship with his new team Smiths Racing - but a crash saw him withdraw from the event.
Kiyonari is pictured crashing out. Photo: Ian Wilson.Kiyonari is pictured crashing out. Photo: Ian Wilson.
Kiyonari is pictured crashing out. Photo: Ian Wilson.

The Japanese rider, who lives in Market rasen, crashed out towards the end of Friday’s second free practice session at Coppice.

And having sustained knee ligament damage in the spill, it meant he had to withdraw from the remainder of the meeting.

“It’s very disappointing to have crashed on Friday and miss the two races as I had high hopes coming into the weekend, so I can only apologise to the team,” Kiyo said.

“The bike felt a lot better than at Oulton and the team never stopped working but I lost the front going into Coppice and then the back suffering a highside.

“The pain’s not massive but on the bike it wasn’t possible to ride as I can’t bend the knee.

“The bike was improving all the time and I expected better results and more points than at Oulton so I’ll look forward to Assen now.

“I’ll be back 100 per cent and look to get the results we deserve there.”

The penultimate round of the championship takes place over the weekend of September 30-October 2 at Assen in the Netherlands.

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