VOL. 52 ISSUE 23 JUNE 9, 2015 P103
BY ERIC JOHNSON
PHOTOGRAPHY BY GOLD & GOOSE
"W
e have had special memories at
Donington in the last two years
and it would be nice after the
difficulty of the start of the season to feel
that kind of magic again," said Tom Sykes
(sort of prophetically) after duel runner-
up finishes at the Italian World Superbike
round at Imola preceding the Yorkshire-
man's home race at Donington. Up to
this sixth round of the championship it
had been something of a star-crossed
campaign for the 2013 World Superbike
Champion. But Imola provided inspiration
and the approaching Donington round
provided hope.
Out of sorts with his 2015 Kawasaki
ZX-10R—a bike he had swung a huge lamp
over the past four years and upon signing a
new contract to remain with the Kawasaki
Racing Team through 2016 had said, "I
have put so much work into the bike I would
not want to give my baby away to some-
one else!" Sykes and longtime crew chief
Marcel Duinker struggled to come to grips
(literally) with the new FIM-dictated tech-
nical regulations for 2015. Further com-
pounding the dynamic duo's frustrations
during the opening phase of the season
was the fact that Kawasaki Racing Team
(KRT) newcomer Jonathan Rea had hit the
asphalt running—winning nearly everything
along the way.
Both undaunted and undeterred, Sykes
and company kept chipping away at it until
the results started to come. And that they
did at Donington Park where Sykes did the
double, scoring his first two race wins of
'15. It was a hard fought result(s) in more
ways than one and one that poured the
Tom Sykes looks to
challenge for the
title despite his slow
start to the season.
TOM SYKES HAS WORKED OUT THE KINKS IN THIS
NEW ERA OF WORLD SUPERBIKES AND READY TO
RECLAIM HIS SUPREMACY
HAMMERLESS NAIL
