British Superbike Championship, Silverstone Qualifying - August 20th 2005

Ryuichi Kiyonari set the fastest lap ever on two wheels at Silverstone on his way to claiming pole position for tomorrow's two Bennetts British Superbike Championship races. The Japanese rider put in a best time of 1:26.111 during this morning's qualifying session.

Team-mate Michael Rutter came closest to matching the pole position time with a fastest lap of 1:26.228 aboard the HM Plant Honda Racing CBR1000RR Fireblade. It puts the Midlander in second position on the grid for the two 22-lap races at the Northamptonshire circuit, despite a low speed crash at Abbey during the afternoon session.

Last year's event at the 2.213-mile track saw the HRC-backed team's riders finish both races on the podium. They will be looking for similar results this weekend, with championship leader Rutter determined to maintain his advantage in the series and Kiyonari focussing on closing the gap on his HM Plant Honda Racing team-mate. Both have made promising starts to their challenges for round nine of the championship. It is 22-year-old Kiyonari's third pole position of the season - allowing him to match team-mate Rutter's tally of leading grid positions this year.

Michael Rutter: "The track had less grip this afternoon compared with the morning session, so I was unable to improve on my time - or Kiyo's. It would have been nice to have gone faster than him in qualifying, but I will hopefully correct that on race day when it counts most. Thankfully, my crash was a minor one and has left me with no injury complaints for tomorrow."

Ryuichi Kiyonari: "It feels good to be back on the HM Plant Honda Racing CBR1000RR Fireblade. I am really comfortable with the machine and everything seems to be going well at Silverstone. I like this circuit and I went well here last year, so I am hoping to pull some points back on Michael tomorrow."

Qualifying:

1. 1. R. Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda Racing) 1:26.111
2. 2. M. Rutter (HM Plant Honda Racing) 1:26.228
3. 3. G. Lavilla (Ducati) 1:26.334
4. 4. L. Haslam (Ducati) 1:26.366
5. 5. D. Thomas (Kawasaki) 1:26.419
6. 6. J. Reynolds (Suzuki) 1:26.537
7. 7. S. Smart (Kawasaki) 1:26.699
8. 8. J. Haydon (Suzuki) 1:26.714
9. 9. M. Laverty (Honda) 1:26.766
10. 10. G. Richards (Kawasaki) 1:26.858