Tom Sykes went for safety first in his bid to remain in the hunt for FIM World Superbikes glory.
The 27-year-old Huddersfield super racer had been dreaming of securing a double victory at his ‘home’ Silverstone track.
But with rain making conditions tricky, Sykes went for the cautious approach, which eventually paid off as he gained valuable points to keep him second behind Sylvain Guintoli in the championship.
While Sykes’ KRT teammate Loris Baz won the second race, Sykes (pictured) finished 11th in race one and then seventh in race two to make sure he kept the pressure at the top of the overall leaderboard.
Sykes would obviously have loved to have done better, particularly after winning both races at another English track, Donington, earlier ion the season.
But he was still happy to have got two productive finishes under his belt.
“These weather conditions were always going to be difficult,” he said. “I was not prepared to put too much on the line in these kinds of conditions – slick tyres, rain falling – and that is just the way it is.
“I was not prepared to gamble too much and we saw how easy it was for people to crash, so taking some points is better than taking none.
“I don’t like thinking about the championship, but I was maybe forced to think a little bit about it in race two. We’ve not given away too much to the championship leader.
“We struggled a little bit in the beginning of race two as the rear tyre did not feel as strong as in race one but I know the Ninja ZX-10R is working well.”
