Tom Sykes is hoping to find a set-up that will allow him to challenge his Kawasaki teammate Jonathan Rea over a race distance at Donington Park. After a slow start to 2015, Sykes has outqualified Rea at each of the last two rounds, only to be beaten on race day, and the Yorkshireman is now looking for the consistency to allow him to compete on Sundays.
“I’m looking forward to Donington because as the season has progressed I have managed to make myself more comfortable with this year’s regulations. So much so that we set a new lap record in Imola, at a place I did not expect to do that. We are definitely getting there now and I am looking for a setting that allows me to do that kind of lap time, but for 20 laps. We still miss a little bit but this is just purely from the balance between the bike and me. I am really looking forward to improving that and then we can be very consistent for the races. There is no reason why we can’t be. The rules have changed for everybody and Kawasaki is doing a great job, reacting fast to the rule changes and they have made things happen quickly. If we have been fast in previous events we can also be fast at Donington. It’s a track where we have had good results in the past so hopefully, after the improvements in Imola, we can aim to do something similar.”
Sykes did the double in fine style at Donington Park last season and hopes a return home will also mark a return to winning ways.
“At your home race you see a lot of familiar faces from your racing history, and you get to see more family and friends. We have had special memories at Donington in the last two years and it would be nice after the difficulty of the start of the season to feel that kind of magic again.”
