A difficult day for Tom Sykes and Kawasaki Puccetti Racing as they compete in round 2 of the Superbike World Championship at the Pertamina Mandalika International Street Circuit on Lombok in Indonesia.
In the last few days, the Englishman has been suffering from gastroenteritis. He was nevertheless able to take part in Friday’s practice sessions and work with his technical team on the setup of his ZX-10RR.
Unfortunately, he was feeling no better today, but while other riders struck with the same virus decided not to race, Sykes headed out for the morning’s final practice and even improved on his best of yesterday, setting a 1’35”506.
He then took part in Superpole, again lowering his time and finishing seventeenth thanks to a best of 1’34”197. This meant a sixth row start on the grid for the afternoon’s 21-lap race. Sykes’ goal was to collate data in order to be able to continue fine-tuning his bike. After making a good start, Sykes held his initial position. He returned to the garage to make a modification before returning to the track and finishing the race in eighteenth place.
The hope is that Tom will feel better tomorrow and will be able to compete in the Superpole Race and Race 2.
Pertamina Mandalika International Street Circuit – Indonesia
Superbike World Championship
Combined free practice results: 1) Rinaldi (Ducati) – 2) Bautista (Ducati) – 3) Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) – 4) Bassani (Ducati) – 5) Locatelli (Yamaha) – 6) Rea (Kawasaki) ……. 20) Sykes (Kawasaki)
Superpole: 1) Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) – 2) Locatelli (Yamaha) – 3) Bautista (Ducati) – 4) Rinaldi (Ducati) – 5) Rea (Kawasaki) – 6) Baz (BMW) …………. 17) Sykes (Kawasaki)
Race 1: 1) Bautista (Ducati) – 2) Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) – 3) Locatelli (Yamaha) – 4) Bassani (Ducati) – 5) Petrucci (Ducati) – 6) Van der Mark (BMW) ………. 18) Sykes (Kawasaki)
Tom Sykes
“My physical condition compromised my performance again today. But I gritted my teeth and completed both qualifying and the race. My lap times continued to improve, while in the race I just tried to maintain a good pace and finish, to collect as much data as possible. Because of this gastroenteritis I basically haven’t eaten anything since Thursday and so I’m feeling weak. I hope to feel better tomorrow so that I can line up for the last two races. Thanks to my team for all their support this weekend.”
