WSB: Sykes insists title fight not over

Tom Sykes insists there is ‘still a long way to go’ in the 2017 Superbike World Championship fight despite team-mate Jonathan Rea heading into the summer break with a whopping 59-point lead.

Rea beat the Yorkshireman in both races at Laguna Seca with Sykes third in race one on Saturday before finishing runner-up to his team-mate on Sunday as the Kawasaki duo stretch their gap at the top of the championship standings.

Sykes is now 56 points clear of Ducati’s Chaz Davies, but with Rea now 59 points ahead it’s going to take a big turnaround after the summer break for the 2013 WSB champion to reignite his championship fight.

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“I was in a bit of a hurry to get to the front in race two and I was hoping to be going there alone,” Sykes said. “I came out of the last turn, looked at the big screen and saw my team-mate there. I wanted the riders behind to battle for a while but it wasn’t the case. The bike was very consistent and we stayed in the high 1’23s to low 1’24s all race. I made a couple of mistakes on one lap trying to adjust the rear brake and engine mapping, just to try something different.

“We have to be happy with second because yesterday and today I gave it everything on track. Credit to the boys in the garage as today’s pace was faster, the race was faster and had a lot safer feeling. I am a little disappointed to lose some points in the championship but there is still a long way to go.”

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