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SBK, Sykes: comfortable in the wet and dry

The English KRT rider dominated Friday's proceedings in Germany, regardless of the track conditions.  Rea: "I wasn't as fast as I wanted to be"

SBK: Sykes: comfortable in the wet and dry

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The balance hasn't changed as the Superbikes return from the summer break: the KRT green team dominated in all conditions, whether the track was dry, dirty or wet.

Today it was Tom Sykes who lead the way on the extremely fast factory ZX10RR, after two sessions in which the Englishman rode well, coordinated his technicians, telling them what changes to make to the bike, and doing his bit to put team-mate Rea behind him: “Overall, a good day. I am feeling really comfortable with the ZX-10RR and the boys did a great job in testing here. We have really set ourselves up for the start of the race weekend. I jumped on the bike and this morning even through the track itself was not in great condition, the bike was working great. From then we made steady progress and I am really happy with our performance."

Despite a crash in the afternoon, Sykes is in high spirits: “I had a small fall early in the afternoon but after checking the data I am putting it down to a little bit of over-excitement! I was really enjoying myself on the bike. When the rains came we lost nothing. I am looking forward to tomorrow now.”

In this case, Jonathan Rea closed in second place but, as we know, the two-time world champion doesn't reveal his cards in the free practice, concentrating instead on Superpole and race prep: “We so lucky to have been able to come here two weeks ago and have a test and take away a few gremlins I had had about the track previously. .

So Rea could be fast at the Lausitzring too: “Today I never put anything together to make me feel really comfortable. We will study the data tonight and understand the areas we can improve to come back stronger tomorrow. It does not feel like the summer break has been as long as normal but I feel really refreshed and I am looking forward to the final stage of the championship.”​​​​​​​

Translated by Heather Watson
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