Kawasaki Puccetti Racing and rider Tom Sykes have completed the second day of racing making up round 3 of the Superbike World Championship at the TT Circuit Assen in The Netherlands.
After competing in free practice and working with his technicians to find the best setup for his ZX-10RR, the Englishman qualified twentieth in Superpole but was forced to retire from race 1 due to a technical issue.
This morning saw Sykes back on track for the Superpole Race, which was slightly delayed and reduced to eight laps after another rider broke his engine during the sighting lap, leaving dirt on track. Tom made a rapid start and this allowed him to make up several positions, but during such a short race, the Englishman struggled to find good feeling with his bike, crossing the line nineteenth.
In the second and final race of the day, Sykes got away well and was able to work his way up the field before finishing inside the points zone, in fifteenth place.
The fourth WorldSBK round will take place on 5-7 May at the Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya, in Spain.
TT Circuit – Assen – The Netherlands
Superbike World Championship
Superpole Race: 1) Bautista (Ducati) – 2) Rea (Kawasaki) – 3) Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) – 4) Lowes (Kawasaki) – 5) Locatelli (Yamaha) – 6) Bassani (Ducati) ……. 19) Sykes (Kawasaki)
Race 2: 1) Bautista (Ducati) – 2) Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) – 3) Locatelli (Yamaha) – 4) Aegerter (Yamaha) – 5) Bassani (Ducati) – 6) Gardner (Yamaha) ………. 15) Sykes (Kawasaki)
Tom Sykes
“A positive day. With a Superpole race of just eight laps, I wasn’t able to find good enough pace to climb up, while in race 2 the bike no longer displayed the problems we were having previously and I was able to focus on my race pace and reach the points zone. These aren’t the kind of results we’re looking for of course, but we’re on the right path. Thanks to the team for working so hard for me this weekend.”
