The HM Plant Honda team are aiming for a winning return when the British Superbike Championship arrives at Oulton Park this weekend for the seventh round. Shane 'Shakey' Byrne still leads the title standings, whilst Ryuichi Kiyonari is aiming to repeat his winning performance from earlier in the season at the Cheshire track.

Shakey leads the overall standings by 19 points and after losing out on the second race win of the weekend at Snetterton he is determined to make amends, whilst Kiyo returns from Japan following a test ahead of the Suzuka 8 Hour race and is targeting a repeat of his win at the Cheshire circuit back in May. In the Superstock 1000 Championship Luke Jones will make his debut with the team as he deputises for the injured Jason O’Halloran.

Shakey said:

“Oulton Park is a track I have mixed feelings about because I really like the track but earlier in the season we did struggle a bit there and at the time I was so happy to have taken a third and fourth place. Let’s not forget though that we have made big steps forward since then so I am feeling pretty excited about the races this weekend. After Snetterton I am really pumped to go back out there and take another win for HM Plant Honda.”

Kiyo said:

“I need to be more aggressive this weekend from the start. At Oulton Park you need a lot of confidence to push hard so we again will work hard from free practice to get it right. I feel happy with the HM Plant Honda Fireblade and we have made improvement since the last round at Oulton Park when we won. A lot of people probably think I am one of the favourites for this weekend because I have had good results there before; I want to win again for our championship but I think there will be a big fight as everyone wants to win.”

Luke said:

“I am really excited about the opportunity to ride the HM Plant Honda Superstock Fireblade this weekend. I am looking forward to working with the team and doing the best I can in the race on Sunday to repay them for this chance.”

Team Manager Havier Beltran concluded:

“This weekend the HM Plant Honda team are looking to continue their success from the previous rounds. We hope that Kiyo can build on his winning performance from Snetterton and for Shakey the priority is staying at the top of the standings and maintaining his run of podium finishes. Oulton Park is a notoriously good circuit for racing so I think it should be a great weekend for the fans. In the Superstock class we have drafted in Luke Jones as Jason is still recovering from injury and it is important to get HM Plant Honda back on the grid. It is going to be a learning curve for Luke and we don’t expect a podium finish, but steady progress throughout the weekend.”