TOM SYKES, of Fenay Bridge, has roared into life in the World Superbike Championship.
But he was outshone by his Yamaha World Superbike teammate and fellow rookie Ben Spies in the opening round of the 14-race season at Phillip Island, Australia.
Spies proved to be an unstoppable combination with the new 2009 YZF-R1, which the American, along with Sykes, have been hard at work on it development.
Having qualified on pole position Spies powered to a flawless victory in the second race Down Under.
Running at the front from the outset and fighting for top position with Ducati rider Noriyuki Haga, Spies rode a perfect race, the new R1 performed impressively as he kept the pace up to the very end for a well deserved victory and became the first American to win a World Superbike race since American Colin Edwards in 2002.
Sykes, however, was forced back to 14th in the opening scrum for the first corners of race one but recovered well, making his way up to 10th position. He held the place for the majority of the race and was closing on ninth at the chequered flag.
And in race two the British rookie displayed the same consistency that won him the points in race one, dropping initially to 19th before getting his head down and working up steadily to take 10th once again and more points for the Yamaha team in his first World Superbike race of 2009, since stepping up from the British Superbike Championship where he rode for Rizla Suzuki last season.
Sykes, 23, said: “It’s not easy in the first couple of turns with the whole pack!
“I got off line going in to turn one in the first race and got pushed wide, there were people everywhere!
“Then going into the Honda hairpin, I was just going underneath Xaus and someone came up the inside and took him out and that pushed me back. The incident lost me three or four seconds, I couldn’t believe it, I guess that’s the nature of Phillip Island!
“The most positive thing for me was that we made changes with the bike in the morning and found a really good setting so I know now I can run race pace and keep at the sharp end, the bike is awesome, especially down the start finish straight.
“Because the bike was working so well I felt really fresh and able to keep pushing on, I was sure I could get to eighth but I ran out of time.
“The second race was much of the same, a frustrating start for me, dropping back to 19th place initially, but I got my head down and stuck to my pace and worked back up, taking nine places to finish 10th. I was forced to overuse the tyres for the first few laps which meant my race distance suffered a bit. On a positive note I know I’m capable of running consistent times for the front of the pack.”
Team manager Massimo Meregalli, said: “Tom did not get a good start for both races but he had good pace and kept it consistently.
“I think if he can pick up the start then he can do very well too. We’re looking forward to Qatar with a really good feeling. Both riders will have to learn the new circuit at Qatar, so we are at a bit of a disadvantage and we’ll be starting from zero.
“I’m not too worried about this as they’ve both proved this weekend they can go out on a new circuit and keep with the pack.”
The next race takes place at Losail, Qatar, on March 14.
Hannspree World Superbike Championship standings:
1 N Haga (JPN) 45pts, 2 M Neukirchner (GER) 30, 3 L Haslam (GBR) 26, 4 B Spies (USA) 25, 5 Y Kagayama (JPN) 24, 6 M Fabrizio (ITA) 24, 7 R Laconi (FRA) 22, 8 J Rea (GBR) 18, 9 J Smrz (CZE) 16, 10 T Sykes (GBR) 12.
