Ryuichi Kiyonari

Ryuichi Kiyonari is a Japanese retired Grand Prix motorcycle racer, born on 23 September 1982 in Saitama, Japan. He began circuit racing in 1996, won the All-Japan ST600 championship in 2002 and served as a Honda Racing Corporation test rider before replacing the late Daijiro Kato in Gresini Racing's MotoGP team for the rest of 2003. He became a favourite of British fans by winning the British Superbike championship in 2006, 2007 and 2010, and made his Superbike World Championship debut in 2008 with Ten Kate Honda, taking his first wins at Brands Hatch. He won the Suzuka 8 Hours in 2005, 2008, 2010 and 2012, took the 2012 Asia Road Racing Championship SS600 title, and later returned to British Superbikes with Samsung Honda, Buildbase BMW and Suzuki.