WorldSBK: Fire still burns, but ‘one of the secrets to racing is being realistic’ - Tom Sykes
Following a difficult 2022 campaign, Sykes agreed to leave the 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:British Superbike championship and take a♈nother shot i🐟n WorldSBK.
Replacing the now former WorldSBK rider, 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Lucas Mahias, Sykes also returns to Kawasaki ma♊chinery where he’s enjoyed the bulk of his Superbike success, after spending the 2022 season with Ducati.
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While far from a rookie in WorldSBK, Sykes is part of a talented and hugely successful influx of new riders 🧸to the 2023 grid.
Danilo Petrucci, 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Remy Gardner and 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Dominique Aegerter are just some of the names that have arrived to the Superbike championship in 2023, along with Sykes who remains the second most successful rider in the class behind Jonathaಌn Rea.
Speaking about his return during last w⭕eek’s Portimao test, Sykes told : "It's fantastic to be back here in the WorldSBK paddock. I’ve got a lot of fantastic memories here, a lot of history, a lot of good friends.
"It was qui🎀te a natural step and one that I’m so far enjoying. With regards to an Independent team, I think I’m very lucky to be with Manuel and the whole of the Kawasaki Puccetti Racing team because, as far as Independent teams go, they’re certainly one of the strongest, if not the strongest.
"It’s going to be a c💖hallenge but I’m one looking f♓orward to. The goal is always to win and always to be competitive.
"That’s the desire. I think one of the secrets to racing is being realistic and understanding where you 🍌can be."
In terms of on-track results, Sykes began the 2023 pre-season testing calendar by finishing 17th in Jerez - 2.4s down on 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Toprak Razgatlioglu - before turning that into a P13 finish in Portimao, this time 1.5s away from top spot which was held by 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Alvaro Bautista.
"We’ve tried various settings and I felt increasingly comfortable on the bike," added Sykꦿes. "We continued with the work begun at Jerez and this made for two very constructive days in which we collected a lot of important data that’s going to be very useful."
