SBK, Sykes: "Winning here was great but tough"

He went all out and did the job. Tom Sykes hadn't yet won a race this year, something he put to rights at Donington, his favourite hunting ground: Tom has reached the top step of the podium on nine consecutive occasions, a record that will be hard to beat.

The green #66 rider described his 32nd SBK win (all of which have been on the Kawasaki Ninja): “this was a fantastic win and I really enjoyed it - stated a smiling Sykes- and, I must say, it was tough. I wasn't in my plans to struggle but that's racing”.

The hard work put in practice proved key for the 2013 champion: “I spend almost all weekend lapping alone on track and this has helped me understand the set-up possibilities of the ZX10RR. With a full tank, I struggled when Davies and Rea attacked. Behind the other riders I couldn't set the kind of times I was capable of but this umpteenth win at Donington is fantastic”.

The first DNF of the season for Johnny Rea, after a violent highside that left him on the grass: “just before being passed by Tom, I was having serious problem with my bike at full lean - revealed Rea - there was a lot of vibration at both front and rear as well as some strong chattering”.

Luckily, Johnny didn't hurt himself in the crash but his Ninja needs some repairing: “when Tom passed him I was only thinking about finishing the race as well as possible and bringing my bike back to the garage in one piece - continued Rea- I should have stopped sooner though, to save the bike. I'm really disappointed because now my team has to totally rebuild it”.