Tom Sykes - Photo Credit: Kawasaki
Tom Sykes remains in high spirits despite another failure to convert pole position into a victory at Assen. The Kawasaki rider has started all six races in 2012 from the front of the grid but has yet to stand on top of the podium and this weekend saw him come agonisingly close.
The Yorkshireman was leading the first race of the day when smoke billowed from the rear of the ZX-10R, causing him to retire after being shown the black and orange flag. Sykes did salve some points from the meeting with sixth in race two, closing to within 13 points of the championship lead, and believes the upcoming circuits will give him a chance to steal a march in the title race.
“A tricky day but things could have been worse. It is just the way racing goes because we have had good pace all weekend with the ZX-10R and that pole time was very good from yesterday and I was confident o build on that. In race one, we were able to do something from pole but unfortunately we had a small issue with the clip for the radiator hose. In race two with many things to consider, we chose a different tyre in the rear, the hard one, and it looked like it cost us a lot of time and caused me a lot of issues. At the end of the day we brought the bike and there are many positives to take away. We have some very good circuits coming up for our bike.”
