Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Nicky Hayden will team with Japanese rider Ryuichi Kiyonari on a Seven Stars Honda RC51 for the Suzuka 8-Hours August 3, according to an official entry list issued July 14.

Kiyonari drew attention last year when he rode a Team Kohtake RSC Honda CBR954RR to the overall race and JSB1000 class wins at round eight of the nine-round All-Japan Road Race Series in the wet at TI Aida Circuit, beating Suzuki’s Yukio Kagayama, who rode a GSV-R MotoGP prototype, and Team Cabin Honda’s Makoto Tamada, on a Honda RC51. It was Kiyonari’s debut in the class.

Kiyonari also won the 2002 All-Japan ST600 (Supersport) Championship on a Honda, taking four wins in eight races.

Kiyonari put in another stand-out performance earlier in 2003 when he finished second in the FIM World Supersport race at Sugo. Kiyonari led most of the event but was passed on the last lap by winner Christian Kellner.

Kiyonari was called up to ride with the Telefonica Movistar Honda team after Daijiro Kato’s fatal accident and has been with the team since the Jerez round in May. To date, Kiyonari’s best MotoGP finish has been 11th at Catalunya.

The 20-year-old from Saitama, Japan has competed in the Suzuka 8-Hours before and finished second in the XF class in 2000.

Hayden, on the other hand, has never competed in the 8-hour classic but has ridden at Suzuka several times and has a lot of experience on the Honda RC51.

Hayden, Kiyonari and the second Seven Stars Honda team of Tohru Ukawa and Hitoyasu Izutsu tested 8-Hours-spec Superbikes at Suzuka July 2-3.

Other teams listed in the July 14 Suzuka 8-Hours entry list include:

Yukio Kagayama and Atsushi Watanabe on a Yoshimura Suzuki GP-1 Maxim GSX-R1000 in the JSB class

Tadayuki Okada and Chojun Kameya on a Team Sakurai Honda RC51 in Superbike class

Anthony Gobert and Adam Fergusson on a Corona Extra TiForce Suzuki GSX-R1000 in the XF1 class

Jordan Szoke and British rider Paul Young on a Corona Light TiForce Suzuki GSX-R1000 in Superbike

Shinichi Itoh and Takeshi Tsujimura on a FCC TSR ZIP FM Racing Team Honda CBR954RR in XF1

American Mickey Lane and Takuya Tsuda on a Spec-A Yamamoto Racing Honda CB1300SF in XF2

Former World Champion Doug Polen and Toshiyuki Hamaguchi on a Moto Liberty Honda CBR954RR in XF1