WSB: Sykes dedicates victory to Hayden

Tom Sykes made the gesture to dedicate his victory in the opening Superbike race at Donington Park today to Nicky Hayden, who lost his life after a cycling incident in Italy last week.

The Kawasaki Racing Team rider clocked up his ninth consecutive win at the Donington Park circuit, where he is now unbeaten since 2012, after rivals Jonathan Rea and Chaz Davies crashed.

With their DNFs, Sykes regains second in the championship standings and now sits just 50 points behind Jonathan Rea, and with a number of what he calls ‘good circuits’ coming up, he believes the title fight is well and truly on.

“Overall it was good for the championship, to win here is nice and I want it to be the start of a run of wins for us as I feel we have some good circuits coming up and our base package is in the ballpark,” he said.

TOP STORIES

• Nicky Hayden gives gift of life with organ donation
• Yamaha recall MT models
• Burt Munro’s great nephew heading to Bonneville
• Valentino Rossi admitted to hospital after motocross accident
• Top 5 ways to get cheap motorcycle insurance

“What makes me even more happy is that we were able to win in the windy conditions, I usually struggle really bad in conditions like that.

“The championship is back on! I’ve heard many comments about the championship but you’ve only got to look at the points available and the points between me and Jonathan. Anything can go wrong in this championship, we saw how hard Jonathan pushed from the start on Friday and he’s had a few visits off track this weekend so anything can happen.

“I’d like to dedicate the win to Nicky. He’s usually my next door motorhome neighbour and I’m missing the big smile and it’s definitely surreal. It was nice to see the fantastic tribute on the start finish line, so yeah that one is for him.” 

Looking for the perfect two-wheeled companion? Visit MCN Bikes For Sale website or use MCN’s Bikes For Sale App.