Kiyonari to join Gibernau in MotoGP

Reigning Japanese Supersport champion Ryuichi Kiyonari has been selected as Sete Gibernau’s new team-mate in the Gresini Racing Telefonica Movistar team.

Gibernau was chosen as the replacement for the late Daijiro Kato after taking both pole position and the race win at Welkom. He will be moving up to the team’s HRC factory RC211V while Kiyonari takes over Gibernau’s role on the satellite customer bike.

The Japanese rider impressed the Honda team with his recent wildcard ride at the third round of the World Supersport championship in Sugo, where his Honda CBR600RR was just beaten to first place by Christian Kellner on a Yamaha R6.

Kiyonari will be at Jerez this weekend to be introduced to the team and is expected to ride his new RCV in a private test at the track on Monday. His first race will be at Le Mans on May 25.

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