HUDDERSFIELD’S World Superbikes star Tom Sykes hit a hot trial as testing got under way in southern Spain.
Sykes and the Kawasaki Racing Team have been in Almeria and, despite some high winds at the Andalucian circuit, Sykes and teammate Loris Baz undertook their first shakedown runs of the year in preparation for the 2013 season.
And Sykes, who missed out on the World Superbike Championship crown by just half a point from Italian Max Biaggi last season, found plenty of positives to take away from two days on the track.
“The good news after day one was that we were straight on the pace after the winter break and got up to speed quickly,” said Sykes.
“It proved a very useful trip and I did 82 laps. There was a strong wind on day two, which is a shame because we did not venture out on the track.
“Even when I woke up on day two I could hear the wind really howling around the hotel.
“But for us it all worked out nicely anyway because we worked on suspension, and other things to keep us moving forward.
“Now we go to Jerez where we will have two days testing and I am looking forward to continuing our good work there.”
Both the riders experienced favourable track conditions on day one with Sykes, on the latest Ninja ZX-10R, was up to his expected fast pace very early in the test and set a 1.34.09 lap time after just a few laps on race tyres – despite a break of over six weeks since his last test session due to the mandatory testing ban imposed by the series organisers.
