That was the intention. Also to open up the rather situational possibility, that you can barrel roll later in a round, when you expect to receive more than one stress token. E.g. you do a red maneuvre, do not barrel roll, unload a barrage into your target. You get another stress from stuff like Rebel Captive, stress bots, Mara Jade, mind link and then you barrel roll.
I do not think it is overpowered, after all the Kihraxz has only 2 red maneuvers. All other stress comes from special circumstances; if these are not present you only can barrel roll every other turn at max, while being very predictable.