Tom Sykes and the Kawasaki Racing Team are on their way to Jerez in Spain for the penultimate round of the 2016 FIM Superbike World Championship knowing that this could be a truly pivotal weekend.
With Sykes’ KRT teammate Jonathan Rea in a championship lead he has enjoyed since the very first round and the Huddersfield rider in a firm second place, both have opportunities to improve their championship prospects to a dramatic degree in Spain.
While Sykes will return to the circuit where he secured the 2013 world title, Rea will be able to make the crown his own this weekend should he grow his current championship advantage of 48 by even a few points – Rea has 426 points to Sykes’ 378.
Conversely, two good results for Sykes in relation to Rea will ensure that the championship will go all the way to the final round at the end of October in Qatar.
One other rider, Ducati’s Chaz Davies, is still mathematically capable of catching both official Kawasaki riders, as he sits 81 points behind Rea, and 33 behind Sykes, with a maximum of 100 points left for any rider who wins every remaining race.
The 2016 Ninja ZX-10R has already scored 14 wins in its inaugural season in the hands of Rea and Sykes and as a result Jerez is also a potential championship-winning venue for Kawasaki in the Manufacturers’ Award – currently Kawasaki has an advantage of 85 points in the championship.
As things stand it has been a remarkable year for Kawasaki’s duo even before the Jerez weekend gets underway.
Rea now has 38 wins, which are part of his overall podium total of 84 and he has secured nine of those race wins in 2016, and 19 podiums, with four races to this season.
Sykes has now posted 31 race wins, 81 podiums and a remarkable 37 Superpole successes, his win total for the current year stands at five, with 17 podium places.
“I am looking forward to getting back out on the bike and it is a bit of a pivotal weekend coming up,” said Sykes.
“I am just hoping that we can make something happen. That is all we need and then we are back into it.
“I am excited to go to Spain again. We definitely found some good speed in France and got back some form in wet conditions.
“Ultimately, the few wet races we have had this year cost me, as you have only got to look at the points difference in wet conditions.
“And everything is teeing up nicely in preparation for the following season.
“Where we are at now means we are definitely able to fight in the dry, and we are looking forward to this weekend.
“We have also tested at Jerez this year and we have information from those tests. We have changed the bike set-up quite a bit since then but hopefully we can be in the ballpark when we get to Jerez.”
Jerez will be an unusual weekend no matter what happens at the end of race two, as there will be an official test on Monday, October 17, where Sykes and Rea will have the chance to make preparations for the Losail season finale, and complete more development work on their 2017 set-up.
In 2017 Sykes and Rea will compete on the new WorldSBK specification ZX-10RR machinery, which has even more focus on performance than the already class-leading Ninja ZX-10R.
