Motorsport: Huddersfield racer Tom Sykes can only apologise after troubled effort in World Superbikes

Jun 4 2010 by Mel Booth, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

HUDDERSFIELD’S Tom Sykes couldn’t help but apologise during World Superbike round seven after picking up just five points for his efforts at Miller Motorsports Park.

The Kawasaki Racing rider suffered a nightmare start as a crash during qualifying left him towards the back of the grid in 18th.

Sykes battled his way to 13th in race one before dropping one place to 14th in race two as Italian Max Biaggi cruised to his third double win of the season.

The 24-year-old took his points tally 42 in America – good enough for 15th place overall – and was quick to say sorry for not finishing higher during round seven.

“We started in good shape but although we were consistent with lap times and we improved on last year’s times – it was still not fast enough,” said Sykes.

“Last year the team qualified pretty well but even though we were lapping faster it just wasn’t quite there.

“I’m sorry for the boys but I did the best I could. I had a decent launch in both races but in race two I got tangled up with a Ducati rider and lost a few places.

“That put me in a really disastrous place in 19th and I got caught out in qualifying with a big high-side crash which put me in an unfortunate position come race day.

“I haven’t had a big crash for a while and I wasn’t too sore but we knew it was going to be hard work from then on and that there was plenty of ground to make up.”

Races have come thick and fast for Sykes over the past month but he can now enjoy a near three-week break before round eight in San Marino.

The Kawasaki Racing rider will evaluate his 2010 campaign so far and says there are positives.

“Middle race distance we struggled with handling into the long left-handed corners but I fought back as hard as I could to finish within the points,” he added.

“I guess that is a positive from the weekend and I look forward to getting things back on track and running nearer the front in San Marino.”

World Superbike Championship races will be broadcast on Eurosport, with the European rounds also available in High Definition. Eurosport Sky 410 & Virgin Media 521. Eurosport HD is on Sky 412 and Virgin Media 522.