The first major pre-season tests get underway this week in Spain for many of the leading protagonists in the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship and on Tuesday at Calafat, the HM Plant Honda and Swan Yamaha teams shared the track for their first day on circuit.

Reigning BSB champion Ryuichi Kiyonari was reunited with the HM Plant Honda team as the triple title-winner ran the number one plate on track for the first time since the 2007 season.

“I am very happy already to be back with the team and riding again because the few months off were very long,” Kiyonari said.

“The new HM Plant Honda feels fast already and we have done some good work today on the electronics and tomorrow we will look more at the chassis and machine balance as I still want to be faster, but this will come with more laps.

“Each day we need to push hard and improve to be faster as the other riders will too but today was good for getting back on the bike and riding again.”

The familiar 67 was also back on track as Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne made his debut with the team and spent the time on track adapting to the Honda, having ridden a Ducati since the beginning of the 2008 season.

“It’s been a good day, if not a bit windy here which catches you off balance at times but aside from that we have made a really good start,” Byrne said. “We put in a good number of laps and got some of the initial work done that is always needed at the start of the season.

“My initial reaction to riding the HM Plant Honda is that the Fireblade is flippin’ fast, especially after a few months off! The engine characteristics are obviously different to the Ducati which I rode last season but it does feel like a missile.

“We haven’t made too many changes today, just tried to get my riding position right so I can adapt to the new bike and we have done some good work this afternoon on the electronics.

“I have some experienced guys working around me so tomorrow we are going to crack on and start making some changes.”

The team’s Metzeler National Superstock 1000 Championship rider Jason O’Halloran also got his first experience of the Fireblade, equalling Shakey’s 71 laps on his opening day with the team.

“It was a good first day for me with the team and I am already feeling comfortable with the team and the Fireblade,” the Aussie said. “We did plenty of miles today and made some slight changes to improve the rear of the bike and more stability.

“We aren’t a million miles away so tomorrow we can focus on the gearing to find some more improvement and then just keep plugging away before moving on to Cartagena.”

The opening day of testing also marked the track debut of the all-new Swan Yamahas as Tommy Hill and Michael Laverty completed their first laps aboard the R1s for the first time.

The new teammates admitted they are already impressed by the new Yamaha and after getting adjusted to the track and being back in the saddle are eager to push forward tomorrow.

“I have a great feeling from the team and bike already,” Hill said. “Obviously the bike is going to feel very different to what I have previously ridden but my initial reaction is that the Swan Yamaha is impressive.

“We started on the basics today to keep things simple and then gradually introduce electronics very slowly so that we know what we are improving.

“Tonight we hope to iron out a few little teething problems we had with the quick shifter but so far we are happy enough with the progress.”

Teammate Laverty was also impressed in his first ride with Yamaha.

“It has been a pretty good day and as an initial shakedown we have done some good work,” he commented.

“We mainly worked on the fundamentals and positioning this morning before really making any major changes and towards the end of the day our last few runs were showing improvement which shows the potential when we really start pushing on.

“Tomorrow we are going to start with the electronics and the suspension. The Swan Yamaha is really an advanced bit of kit and I am finishing the first day happy, so we are looking forward to getting back out tomorrow.”

In other British Superbike news, Crescent Racing has today confirmed technology electronics giants Samsung as 2011 title sponsors, while also announcing reigning British Superstock Champion Jon Kirkham as teammate to John Hopkins in the team’s two-rider BSB series assault.