Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Team Kohtake RSC’s Ryuichi Kiyonari took the overall race and JSB1000 class wins at round eight of the nine-round All-Japan Road Race Series, at the rain-soaked 2.3-mile TI Aida Circuit in Southern Japan October 20. Kiyonari rode a Honda CBR954RR to beat Suzuki test rider Yukio Kagayama, on the GSV-R MotoGP prototype, and Team Cabin Honda’s Makoto Tamada, on a RC51, second and third overall, respectively, in the wet race. Tamada finished first in the Superbike class, but Prototype machines, such as the Suzuki ridden by Kagayama, race only for exhibition purposes and don’t earn points in the All-Japan Road Race Series.

Superbike points leader Atsushi Watanabe finished 12th overall and fifth in Superbike on his Suzuki GSX-R750 at TI Aida, one lap down to Kiyonari. Watanabe could have theoretically clinched the 2002 All-Japan Superbike Championship, but his low finish combined with Tamada’s Superbike class win puts Tamada within 12 points of Watanabe going into the final round of the series this weekend at Suzuka Circuit.

To win the Championship Watanabe must finish third or better if Tamada wins the final Superbike race. Five points behind Tamada and 17 points behind Watanabe, YSP Racing & Presto’s Wataru Yoshikawa has an outside chance of winning the title on his Yamaha YZF-R7 after finishing seventh overall and third in Superbike at TI Aida.

The win was Kiyonari’s first entry in JSB1000 during the 2002 season, and the Honda rider now sits ninth in the JSB1000 point standings. Suzuki GSX-R1000 rider Akira Tamitsuji, 11th overall and fifth in JSB1000 at TI Aida, leads the JSB1000 Championship by four points over Tatsuya Yamaguchi going into the final round at Suzuka.

All-Japan Road Race Series Round Eight Results:

1. Ryuichi Kiyomari, JSB1000, Honda CBR954RR, 25 laps, 45:39.760

– Yukio Kagayama, Prototype, Suzuki GSV-R, -52.252 seconds

2. Makoto Tamada, Superbike, Honda RC51, -56.238 seconds

3. Yuichi Takeda, Superbike, Honda RC51, -69.312 seconds

4. Tatsuya Yamaguchi, JSB1000, Honda CBR954RR, -82.455 seconds

5. Osamu Deguchi, JSB1000, Honda CBR954RR, -84.203 seconds

6. Wataru Yoshikawa, Superbike, Yamaha YZF-R7, -90.050 seconds

– Keichi Kitagawa, Prototype, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -92.992 seconds

7. Takeshi Tsujimura, Superbike, Yamaha YZF-R7, -102.723 seconds

8. Hiroaki Kawase, JSB1000, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -1 lap

9. Akira Tamitsuji, JSB1000, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -1 lap

10. Atsushi Watanabe, Superbike, Suzuki GSX-R750, -1 lap