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Tom Sykes

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Tom Sykes
Sykes at World Superbikes, Silverstone, 2012.
NationalityEnglish
Born (1985-08-19) 19 August 1985 (age 39)
Huddersfield, West Yorkshire
Current teamKawasaki Racing Team
Bike number66
Motorcycle racing career statistics
Superbike World Championship
Active years2008 – present
ManufacturersSuzuki, Yamaha, KawasakiCurrent
Championships1 (2013)
2014 championship position2nd (410Points)
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
158 22 49 24 21 1672.5

Tom Sykes (born 19 August 1985 in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England) is a motorcycle racer. In 2007 he gained his first ride in British Superbikes, riding a Stobart Vent-Axia Honda; Sykes finished in sixth position in the championship in his rookie year. Following this success he was signed by the Rizla Suzuki team for the 2008 season; he went on to finish 4th in the championship as well as making wildcard World Superbike appearances at Brands Hatch & Donington Park, where he impressed strongly, helping him gain a World Superbike ride at Yamaha Motor Italia for the 2009 season.[1] For 2010 he races a Paul Bird Motorsport Kawasaki in the series. He won his first SBK title in 2013 for Kawasaki.

Early years

Sykes is the grandson of Peter Brooks, who is involved in the manufacture of Kawasaki bikes. Sykes raced in the British Supersport championship from 2003 to 2006, finishing 8th, 5th, 6th, and as runner-up to Cal Crutchlow in 2006.[2]

British Superbikes 2007–2008

2007 was his first season in the British Superbike championship, riding for the Stobart Vent-Axia Honda team alongside 2003 series champion Shane Byrne. He finished 18 of the first 20 rounds, including a pair of 4th places at Snetterton.[3] Second on the grid at Oulton Park,[4] and pole at Donington Park.[5] Sykes took his first two podiums at the Croft Circuit, to move up to 6th in the championship, immediately behind Byrne, and immediately ahead of Leon Camier on another Honda.

Shortly after joining the Rizla Suzuki team for 2008, he was seen testing a Suzuki MotoGP bike.[6] Sykes started the 2008 with a 6th and an 8th at Thruxton (The first races were there as the season opener at Brands Hatch was snowed off). He took pole position at Oulton Park, but crashed at the aborted start of race 1, before finishing 5th on the restart [1]. He led race 2 until being taken out by Leon Haslam, who was excluded for the move. Sykes continued to finish towards the front of the field consistently scoring podiums at Brands Hatch (2nd), Donington Park (3rd) and Snetterton (3rd) all in the first of the 2 races. It was at Oulton Park where he scored his first two victories, taking the lead from James Ellison late in race 1 but leading most of race 2. He followed that up with a third straight win at Knockhill in the first race, and collected podiums for the rest of the championship. Sykes finished 4th in the championship with 316 points, 2 points behind Cal Crutchlow.

World Superbikes 2008 – present

Sykes made his World Superbike Championship debut at Brands Hatch as a wildcard, impressing by qualifying sixth (ahead of three works Suzukis with more powerful engines, including title contender Max Neukirchner). He retired from a strong position in race 1 due to a hole in the radiator by rocks thrown up by Max Biaggi's Sterilgarda Ducati machine, but came back to finish 6th in race 2. He gained a second wildcard meeting at Donington Park in changeable conditions, where he proved even stronger. He again qualified on the second row, but got a flying start in race one and had a comfortable lead when the race was red-flagged due to oil from Noriyuki Haga's Yamaha. Knowing he had to finish within 4 seconds of Troy Bayliss to win on aggregate, Sykes lead early in race two, before easing off after seeing a white flag with a red cross, which typically means a slippery surface (often with the yellow and red striped oil flag), but racing in British Superbike Championship races, the flag neutralises the race under a full-course caution period with safety car deployment, so Sykes and Leon Haslam both eased up, anticipating neutralisation, but the time lost here proved costly, as Sykes failed to stay close enough to Bayliss, finishing second behind the three-time series champion. He was less competitive in race two, but his reputation had still been boosted.

Tom Sykes at Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, 2012

On 11 September 2008 Sykes signed a contract with the Yamaha Motor Italia World Superbike team for the 2009 season, with an option to extend that contract until 2010 depending on results.[1] Sykes had an average year finishing mostly mid-pack, while his team mate Ben Spies was at the front of the field. This led to Yamaha not offering Sykes a second year, instead hiring fellow Brits James Toseland and Cal Crutchlow.

Sykes signed for the Paul Bird Motorsport Kawasaki team for 2010, as had been rumoured,[7] enabling him to stay in the World Superbike class. Sykes said

“It’s going to be a challenge, but I’m looking forward to it. I believe that from what is in place in the team we’re going to be able to do a good job.”

The Kawasaki was relatively uncompetitive in 2010, but Sykes managed a strong fifth place at Monza. He was the team leader for much of the year, with the more experienced Chris Vermeulen struggling following a knee injury sustained at the first round at Phillip Island. Despite speculation as to his future with the team, Sykes flew to Japan to help test the ZX-10R, the bike the team will use for 2011.[8] He made a wildcard appearance with the team in the British Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch.[9]

On the final weekend of the 2010 World Superbike Championship season, Sykes confirmed that he had signed a one year contract with Kawasaki that would see him ride in the 2011 Superbike World Championship season.[10]

Sykes crashed in the chicane at Donington Park shortly after he passed an Aprilia and moved up to 4th place and he was taken out of the race while his teammates managed mid -placings. He finished close to last on race 2, but Lascorz made 6th.

Tom Sykes has been crowned the 2013 World Superbike Champion after securing the third place finish he needed to secure a popular title victory at Jerez, while Eugene Laverty took a dramatic last corner victory over Marco Melandri.

On 21 June 2014, Tom Sykes captured his 21st career Superpole at Italy’s Misano World Circuit for round seven of the series.[11]

Career statistics

All time
Series Years Active Races Poles Podiums Wins 2nd place 3rd place Fast Laps Titles
British Superbike Championship 2007–08, 2010 53 2 18 5 6 7 0 0
World Superbike Championship 2009− 158 24 49 22 11 16 21 1
Total 211 26 67 27 17 23 21 1

British Supersport Championship

Races by year

Yr Class Team SIL
England 		BHI
England 		SNE
England 		OUL
England 		MON
Republic of Ireland 		SNE
England 		BHGP
England 		KNO
Scotland 		MAL
England 		CRO
England 		CAD
England 		OUL
England 		DON
England 		Pos Pts Ref
2004 BSS Suzuki 10 Ret 7 14 4 10 Ret 5 9 4 2 2 3 5th 123 [12]
Yr Class Team BHI
England 		THR
England 		MAL
England 		OUL
England 		MON
Republic of Ireland 		CRO
England 		KNO
Scotland 		SNE
England 		SIL
England 		CAD
England 		OUL
England 		DON
England 		BHGP
England 		Pos Pts Ref
2005 BSS Suzuki Ret 9 2 1 1 4 3 Ret 4 5th 119 [13]
Yr Class Team BHI
England 		DON
England 		THR
England 		OUL
England 		MON
Republic of Ireland 		MAL
England 		SNE
England 		KNO
Scotland 		OUL
England 		CRO
England 		CAD
England 		SIL
England 		BHGP
England 		Pos Pts Ref
2006 BSS Suzuki 9 5 6 3 C 3 3 Ret 2 2 2 2 3 2nd 172 [14]

British Superbike Championship

Races by year

Yr Class Team BHGP
England 		THR
England 		SIL
England 		OUL
England 		SNE
England 		MOP
Republic of Ireland 		KNO
Scotland 		OUL
England 		MAL
England 		CRO
England 		CAD
England 		DON
England 		BHI
England 		Pos Pts Ref
R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2
2007 BSB Honda 7 5 5 7 7 6 5 6 4 4 Ret 7 6 4 Ret 6 6 4 3 3 3 5 2 2 Ret 7 6th 279
Yr Class Team THR
England 		OUL
England 		BHGP
England 		DON
England 		SNE
England 		MAL
England 		OUL
England 		KNO
Scotland 		CAD
England 		CRO
England 		SIL
England 		BHI
England 		Pos Pts Ref
R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2
2008 BSB Suzuki 6 8 5 Ret 2 Ret 3 6 3 7 4 4 1 1 1 4 2 2 3 2 DSQ 3 6 Ret 4th 316 [15]
Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pos Pts Ref
R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R3
2010 Kawasaki BHI BHI THR THR OUL OUL CAD CAD MAL MAL KNO KNO SNE SNE SNE BHGP
5 		BHGP
1 		BHGP
1 		CAD CAD CRO CRO SIL SIL OUL OUL OUL 16th 61 [16]

Superbike World Championship

Races by year

Year Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Pos Pts
R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2
2008 Suzuki QAT QAT AUS AUS ESP ESP NED NED ITA ITA USA USA GER GER SMR SMR CZE CZE GBR
Ret 		GBR
7 		EUR
2 		EUR
10 		ITA ITA FRA FRA POR POR 21st 35
2009 Yamaha AUS
10 		AUS
10 		QAT
7 		QAT
5 		SPA
7 		SPA
10 		NED
4 		NED
6 		ITA
6 		ITA
6 		RSA
10 		RSA
9 		USA
13 		USA
9 		SMR
8 		SMR
7 		GBR
Ret 		GBR
5 		CZE
Ret 		CZE
7 		GER
9 		GER
8 		ITA
9 		ITA
12 		FRA
Ret 		FRA
Ret 		POR
DNS 		POR
DNS 		9th 176
2010 Kawasaki AUS
13 		AUS
Ret 		POR
15 		POR
13 		SPA
11 		SPA
15 		NED
12 		NED
Ret 		ITA
9 		ITA
5 		RSA
16 		RSA
14 		USA
13 		USA
14 		SMR
15 		SMR
16 		CZE
11 		CZE
Ret 		GBR
18 		GBR
14 		GER
5 		GER
7 		ITA
6 		ITA
4 		FRA
7 		FRA
11 		14th 106
2011 Kawasaki AUS
8 		AUS
9 		EUR
Ret 		EUR
12 		NED
14 		NED
11 		ITA
13 		ITA
11 		USA
6 		USA
10 		SMR
4 		SMR
14 		SPA
5 		SPA
Ret 		CZE
10 		CZE
14 		GBR
DNS 		GBR
DNS 		GER
11 		GER
1 		ITA
4 		ITA
Ret 		FRA
8 		FRA
Ret 		POR
10 		POR
Ret 		13th 141
2012 Kawasaki AUS
4 		AUS
3 		ITA
2 		ITA
2 		NED
Ret 		NED
6 		ITA
C 		ITA
1 		EUR
3 		EUR
3 		USA
8 		USA
5 		SMR
4 		SMR
7 		SPA
Ret 		SPA
8 		CZE
2 		CZE
2 		GBR
8 		GBR
12 		RUS
1 		RUS
2 		GER
4 		GER
5 		POR
1 		POR
Ret 		FRA
3 		FRA
1 		2nd 357.5
2013 Kawasaki AUS
5 		AUS
5 		SPA
Ret 		SPA
3 		NED
1 		NED
2 		ITA
2 		ITA
3 		GBR
1 		GBR
1 		POR
3 		POR
NC 		ITA
1 		ITA
1 		RUS
Ret 		RUS
C 		GBR
11 		GBR
7 		GER
1 		GER
4 		TUR
3 		TUR
2 		USA
1 		USA
4 		FRA
1 		FRA
1 		SPA
3 		SPA
2 		1st 447
2014 Kawasaki AUS
7 		AUS
3 		SPA
1 		SPA
1 		NED
2 		NED
4 		ITA
3 		ITA
5 		GBR
1 		GBR
1 		MAL
Ret 		MAL
3 		SMR
1 		SMR
1 		POR
1 		POR
8 		USA
3 		USA
1 		SPA
5 		SPA
3 		FRA
4 		FRA
4 		QAT
3 		QAT
3 		2nd 410
2015 Kawasaki AUS
6 		AUS
4 		THA
3 		THA
5 		SPA
3 		SPA
Ret 		NED
5 		NED
5 		ITA
2 		ITA
2 		GBR
1 		GBR
1 		POR
2 		POR
8 		SMR
1 		SMR
5 		USA
2 		USA
2 		MAL
5 		MAL
14 		SPA
1 		SPA
5 		FRA
2 		FRA
3 		QAT
3 		QAT
3 		3rd 399

References

  1. ^ a b http://londonbikers.com/news/9842/tom-sykes-steps-up-to-world-superbikes-with-yamaha-for-2009
  2. ^ http://www.rizla-suzuki.co.uk/pages/common/crescent.aspx?pg=191
  3. ^ http://www.insidebikes.com/racing/bsb/results/results_detail.asp?id=7453
  4. ^ http://londonbikers.com/news/4062/tom-sykes-rocks-to-front-row-start
  5. ^ http://www.bikesportnews.com/news/donbsbquali.html
  6. ^ http://www.crash.net/motorsport/bsb/news/156958-0/qa_tom_sykes_-_exclusive.html
  7. ^ http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/sport/sportresults/World-Superbikes/2009/October/Oct21wsbsykes/
  8. ^ "Sykes tests new Kawasaki ZX-10R". crash.net. Crash Media Group. 6 August 2010. Retrieved 7 August 2010.
  9. ^ "Rutter dominates for Brands Hatch pole". crash.net. Crash Media Group. 7 August 2010. Retrieved 7 August 2010.
  10. ^ "Sykes pens Kawasaki deal". Insidebikes. Carole Nash. 4 October 2010. Retrieved 4 October 2010.
  11. ^ "Reigning World Superbike Champion Tom Sykes Captures Tissot Superpole at Misano World Circuit".
  12. ^ http://www.calcrutchlow.com/2004/final.asp
  13. ^ http://www.yamaha-racing.com/Racing/wsb/rider_team/sykes.jsp#
  14. ^ http://www.calcrutchlow.com/2006/final.asp
  15. ^ http://www.suzuki-racing.com/2008%20Archive/news_page.aspx?OBJ_ID=14640
  16. ^ http://www.britishsuperbike.com/news/sykes-makes-it-a-double.aspx
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