Sykes: 'When you’re at the top of your game, you always want to win'
2013 Champion looks to use rest of season as extended test.
2013 Champion Tom Sykes was one of the many WorldSBK riders to attend last weekend’s OCTO British Grand Prix at Silverstone. The 30-year-old Englishman is currently enjoying the summer holidays but is looking forward to a return to track action when the World Superbike series resumes on September 18-20 at Jerez.
“We’re having a good break,” said Sykes. “I now have two daughters in my life, so it’s been fun and busy. Honestly, after Malaysia all I have wanted is to get back on my bike again and put some poor results behind me. We have had fantastic speed, there is no doubt about that, but we just need to find a setup that suits my riding style better. This is why MotoGP is interesting for me - a race series with a lot of opportunity to adjust the chassis to the tyres and conditions. It would be interesting to try."
After a difficult round in Malaysia at Round 10 of the season last month, Sykes’ 2015 title hopes faded once and for all. The Kawasaki Racing Team rider also saw his second place in the standings taken by fellow Briton Chaz Davies (Ducati), who managed to edge out Jonathan Rea in the second race at the Sepang International Circuit. There is little doubt over who will become the new WorldSBK Champion, Sykes admits:
“The title is definitely gone. I think Jonathan can stay at home and drink some tea for the remaining races: he is in a very fortunate position! But we need to use the last three remaining rounds (Spain, France and Qatar) as a testing programme for next year in order to try and make our life easier. Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough testing time during the year to solve our problems and it is difficult to do so during the racing weekends.”
With six races left in total, there is still room for more success.
“The target is of course to win some races and why not?" Sykes began to sum up. "Second place in the standings would be good. This would mean I would have finished in the top two for the fourth year in a row and that is definitely not something to be embarrassed about. When you’re at the top of your game, you always want to win.”
The full interview with Tom Sykes can be viewed now on WorldSBK.com.
