HUDDERSFIELD racer Tom Sykes insists he took a step in the right direction after a useful World Superbike outing in Valencia.
Sykes returned home from Spain with six championship points to his name after finishing 11th and 15th in race one and two, respectively.
It was a welcome return to form for the 24-year-old from Lepton, who had endured a slow start to the year in the opening rounds at Phillip Island in Australia and the Portimao track in Portugal.
The Kawasaki Racing rider still had to overcome electronics issues in race two in Valencia but Sykes insists his machinery is finally starting to come together.
“A few people dropped out of race one and I was not willing to make too many mistakes to make sure I kept some good points on the board,” said Sykes, who now has 13 championship points.
“In race two we had a bit of a problem early on.
“We had a good launch and a good start but then there was a small issue with the electronics.
“I got some cement dust in my eyes in the second race as well and that was burning me all race.
“Race two was promising anyway, but I got involved with people who were slower in some sectors and I could not run as fast as I wanted to.
“I overstretched the tyre trying to get past some of them, but we scored points in each race and gathered more useful data for the team.”
But it was far from a smooth ride for the Kawasaki team in Valencia as Sykes’ partner Simon Andrews suffered a horrific crash forcing race two to be red flagged and restarted after three laps.
Britain’s Leon Haslam proved he’s still the man to beat as he collected another race victory and stretched his championship points tally to 123 – 18 points ahead of nearest rival Max Biaggi.
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.
