Bug hits Sykes on Kyalami test
Added on Monday, December 15th, 2008 by Carole Nash Editor
Bug hits Sykes on Kyalami test
Tom Sykes ended this weekend’s World Superbikes test in Kyalami in an upbeat mood despite seeing his time on track cut short through illness.
The Huddersfield-born rider, who is in his debut WSB season following some impressive wildcard performances in 2008, struggled to keep pace with new teammate Ben Spies and could only manage a 12th fastest time on the opening day.
Sykes later revealed that an illness had restricted the number of laps that he could complete with the new R1 but the 23-year-old remained positive despite the disappointing test.
“It’s been a tough test!” said Sykes. “I missed one and half days through this bug I’ve had so was a long way behind with laps. When I got out I still managed to get some good laps in and the team were brilliant, they improved the bike massively every time I came in. I’ve got a very sore shoulder from falling today but it’s nothing serious.”
Yamaha Team Manager Massimo Meregalli was also pleased with the weekend’s events, with Yamaha using the opportunity to really run the R1 through it’s paces.
“In the end we tested almost everything while we were out here, tyres, different suspension set ups, different mappings and so on,” he added. “We’ve found some good set ups to take forward to the next test.
“We’ve been waiting out for the evenings here for the temperature to drop so we could get back out on the track and try some new things.
“Both Tom and Ben have performed really well, it’s been really unfortunate that Tom has been held back by things out of his control.
“We’re still very much running in the new bike, this is only the second session since Portimao. All in all we are very satisfied, we know what our potential is and we are very happy.”
