Sykes happy to be back on ‘home’ soil

TOM SYKES is looking forward to returning to Europe for the third round of the FIM Superbike World Championship.

The 31-year-old 2013 world champion and the class-leading Kawasaki Racing Team, including reigning champion Jonathan Rea, will be in action at the Motorland Aragon circuit in northern Spain.

It is the first ‘home’ event of the season for the Barcelona-based KRT outfit, with race days on Saturday and Sunday.

“I am looking forward to coming back to the European tracks now after a steady start to the season in Australia and Thailand,” said Huddersfield racer Sykes.

“It has not been too shabby, but there are little areas we could have improved on and we will certainly look to improve on them at this forthcoming race weekend in Motorland Aragon.”

Rea has taken all four race victories and both Superpole contests so far this campaign, while Sykes currently lies third in the championship standings with 62 points – eight behind second placed Ducati rider Chaz Davies.

“I feel we have learned in the first two rounds and now our aim is to move forward and be stronger in terms of initial lap times,” added Sykes.

“My fastest lap of the race in Thailand was on the last lap.

“That was not through any lack trying early on, but it just shows that I am re-thinking my approach to riding.

“There is still more to come from me. Off the top of my head I would say we are looking at adjusting my riding style 60-70 percent and adjusting the bike settings 40-30 percent. It is just taking some time.”

Immediately after race weekend at Motorland the second official test of the year will take place at the Spanish circuit on Monday. HUDDERSFIELD driver Christian England is part of the United Autosports team heading heads to Monza.

The Italian event will mark the start of the 2017 season – the official European Le Mans Series Prologue.

The reigning ELMS LMP3 Champions will enter one LMP2 and four LMP3 cars into the two-day test.

They will field a Ligier JS P3 for returning drivers Mark Patterson, Wayne Boyd and 2016 driver’s champion England.

John Falb and Sean Rayhall will pilot the sister ELMS Ligier JS P3, while Will Owen, Hugo de Sadeleer and Filipe Albuquerque get behind the wheel of the team’s Ligier JS P217.

The first round of the European Le Mans Series is at Silverstone, on April 14-15, and the first round of the Michelin Le Mans Cup is at Monza, on May 12-13.

England said: “I’ve never been to Monza before but I’m really looking forward to it and hopefully it will stay dry.

“The partnership with my two new teammates, Mark and Wayne is pretty much as expected.

“We got on really well last year and we’ve definitely picked up where we left off.

“It’s also great to be back with Ken, my number one mechanic.

“It’s a long time since we worked together back in 2002 in our Formula Ford days, so its good to be back together again.”