Tom Sykes crashed out of the front group during Race 1 at the TT Circuit Assen and the Yorkshireman pushed hard to rectify the result in Race 2, coming home second to complete a Kawasaki Racing Team 1-2 behind teammate Jonathan Rea.

“I enjoyed the race,” said Sykes. “Races like that are fantastic! I think they’re good for the riders and good for the spectators. In the beginning I knew it would be difficult, you know we had such a great wet setup this weekend, but unfortunately at the start of the race it was drying out so it was really greasy and our setup didn’t suit that. The Shark helmet has such a good system you know it even stopped my Yorkshire tones getting to my Dutch crew chief! There was a small mistake with the rear tyre and we ended up using the intermediate so that was a big shame but I tried everything.

“Honestly speaking we just gave away too much to Jonathan with the tread of the tyres we have,” lamented the 2013 World Champion. “I think even considering this, our pace was very strong.I think second position is not too bad and considering that yesterday we were in the gravel, it’s good. At the start of the race I just wasn’t able to get the lean angle and get the power down on the wet tyres just because of the mixed conditions. Our package didn’t accept that so I came in early and obviously that’s why I went for the inter front and we managed that well, but the mistake in the pit lane with the inter rear cost us dearly. But like I’ve said, we’ve had a great weekend and the guys have been working hard and improving the setup so I definitely feel more comfortable now. I feel proud that we put on such a good fight against Jonathan on these tyres so we’ll keep working and I’m sure we’ll get what we deserve very soon.”

Imola hosts the next Round of WorldSBK, with the legendary Italian track already getting prepared for the arrival of the paddock at the end of April.

“The good thing is that for Assen we’ve had good pace all weekend in both wet and dry, and this morning in Warm Up in dry conditions we found a good rhythm so it’s one of those weekends where the results don’t quite fit what we deserve. That’s racing and that’s the beauty of it and that’s why we do it. We’ll focus on the next Round and focus on the setup we’ve been working on.”