Friday
A complicated start for Tom Sykes in WorldSBK Barcelona
With today’s two practice sessions, the fourth round of the Superbike World Championship is now underway at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain.
Despite the progress made during the last Assen round, a few small problems during today’s first practice limited Tom Sykes performance, the rider setting a best time of 1’46”644.
The situation improve during the afternoon’s session and the Englishman was able to improve significantly on his lap time. With a 1’44”486, Sykes placed twenty-fourth in the day’s combined standings.
Sykes will take part in tomorrow morning’s final practice, followed by the Superpole and the first race of this fourth round.
Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya – Spain – Superbike World Championship
Combined free practice results: 1) Bautista (Ducati) – 2) Rinaldi (Ducati) – 3) Rea (Kawasaki) – 4) Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) – 5) Lecuona (Honda) ……. 24) Sykes (Kawasaki)
Tom Sykes
“I really like the Barcelona circuit, such a fantastic layout. In FP1 we tried to improve our setting but we had a few little issues that slowed us down somewhat. We were able to improve a little in FP2 and I felt a bit more comfortable but we’re still struggling in terms of outright pace. So tomorrow we as a team will be looking to make some more drastic changes.”
Lucas Mahias just outside the points in WorldSSP race 1
The second day of action making up round four of the Supersport World Championship played out today at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain.
Lucas Mahias, the Kawasaki Puccetti Racing rider who is standing in for injured Can Oncu, classified fourteenth in yesterday’s free practice sessions having set a best lap of 1’46”224.
This morning, in hot and sunny conditions, the Frenchman was back out for the Superpole, during which he improved on his lap time by a second (1’45”227) to qualify thirteenth, which meant a fifth row start for the afternoon’s 18-lap race.
The Frenchman made a strong start but then got caught up in a group and slipped back a few positions. Having run inside the points zone for almost the entire race, Mahias lost two places in the final stages after coming into contact with another rider. This meant that he finished his race in sixteenth place, just outside the points zone.
Tomorrow will see Lucas competing in the final race making up this fourth WorldSSP round.
Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya – Spain – Supersport World Championship
Superpole: 1) Bulega (Ducati) – 2) Schroetter (MV Agusta) – 3) Caricasulo (Ducati) – 4) Edwards (Yamaha) – 5) Van Straalen (Yamaha) ….. 13) Mahias (Kawasaki)
Race 1 – 1) Bulega (Ducati) – 2) Schroetter (MV Agusta) – 3) Sofuoglu (MV Agusta) – 4) Van Straalen (Yamaha) – 5) Caricasulo (Ducati) – 6) Manzi (Yamaha)……. 16) Mahias (Kawasaki)
Lucas Mahias
“It was difficult competing in my first WorldSSP race for the first time in two and a half years. The category has changed a lot compared to how it was. The feeling in the first two laps is that there is too much aggression in the pack. Now everyone is trying to win the race right away. I also think I wasn’t really lucky today because one guy crashed in front of me, causing me to lose time, and another guy pushed me offline, which put me back further. This isn’t an excuse but with a bit more luck I could have battled for tenth or eleventh, but that wasn’t to be today. The conditions were quite hot, so I tried to manage the tyres as best I could, but I will try to be better tomorrow.”
Saturday
Sykes close to the points in WorldSBK race 1 at Barcelona
The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain is staging the fourth round of the Superbike World Championship, in which Kawasaki Puccetti Racing is racing with English rider Tom Sykes. In yesterday’s two free practice sessions, Sykes placed twenty-fourth with a time of 1’44”486, while this morning he finished the third and final practice twenty-third, with a best of 1’43”813.
In the late morning Tom competed in Superpole, improving further on his time to set a 1’42”608 and qualify twenty-second. Sykes therefore got away from the eighth row of the grid for the afternoon’s race, which ran in hot and sunny conditions.
The British rider didn’t make the fastest start, but the race was brought to a halt with a red flag already on lap four due to a crash. The race was restarted but reduced to 17 laps. After making a good start, Tom was able to maintain a good pace, ultimately crossing the line seventeenth, not far from the points zone.
Tomorrow Sykes will compete in the Superpole Race followed by Race 2.
Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya – Spain – Superbike World Championship
Combined free practice results: 1) Bautista (Ducati) – 2) Locatelli (Yamaha) – 3) Rinaldi (Ducati) – 4) Gerloff (BMW) – 5) Rea (Kawasaki) – 6) Vierge (Honda) ……. 23) Sykes (Kawasaki)
Superpole: 1) Bautista (Ducati) – 2) Aegerter (Yamaha) – 3) Rea (Kawasaki) – 4) Rinaldi (Ducati) – 5) Lecuona (Honda) – 6) Lowes (Kawasaki) ……. 20) Sykes (Kawasaki)
Race 1: 1) Bautista (Ducati) – 2) Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) – 3) Rea (Kawasaki) – 4) Locatelli (Yamaha) – 5) Aegerter (Yamaha) – 6) Lecuona (Honda) ….. 17) Sykes (Kawasaki)
Tom Sykes
“Today’s race was quite eventful with a couple of crashes and a red flag, so I hope everyone’s OK after that. We had a few issues when the race first got going so when it restarted we took a gamble with the rear tyre, one that unfortunately didn’t pay off. We tried our best and now, on the back of that information, we’ll look to make some changes for tomorrow so that we have a better package for the shorter sprint race.”
Race 2 points for Lucas Mahias in Barcelona
Cool and cloudy conditions at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain for today’s third and final day making up the fourth Supersport World Championship round.
French rider Lucas Mahias is standing in for injured Can Oncu this weekend. On Friday, Mahias worked with his technicians to rebuild confidence aboard the Ninja ZX-6R, while yesterday he qualified thirteenth in Superpole and finished race 1 in sixteenth position, just missing out on the points zone. This morning, Lucas was out for the final race of this Spanish event, lining up on the fourth row of the grid once again.
He made a good start and this allowed him to immediately move up into the chasing group. As the race went on, the Frenchman picked up the pace and climbed up the field as far as thirteenth place, which awarded him three championship points.
The next Supersport World Championship round will play out on 2-4 June at the Misano World Circuit in Italy.
Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya – Spain – Supersport World Championship
Race 2 – 1) Sofuoglu (MV Agusta) – 2) Schroetter (MV Agusta) 3) Manzi (Yamaha) – 4) Debise (Yamaha) – 5) Van Straalen (Yamaha) – 6) Caricasulo (Ducati) ………..13) Mahias (Kawasaki)
Lucas Mahias
“I’m pleased with how race 2 went, particularly in terms of my pace which remained pretty consistent. I hadn’t raced in Supersport for a few years, but I made a lot of progress over these three days, finding good feeling with the bike today. I really struggled in qualifying and had to start the races from further back on the grid, otherwise I’d have been able to score better results. But I’ll settle for today’s three points. I want to thank the whole team, Manuel Puccetti and Kawasaki for having given me this great opportunity.”
Sunday
Crash stops Tom Sykes in WorldSBK race 2
The fourth round of the Superbike World Championship has concluded at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain.
After having qualified twenty-second in Superpole, Kawasaki Puccetti Racing rider Tom Sykes competed in yesterday’s first race of the weekend, crossing the line in seventeenth place, which became sixteenth after a rider ahead of him was disqualified.
Today, under rather cloudy skies, the Englishman competed in the Superpole race and Race 2. In the sprint, Tom again lined up on row eight and was unable to do better than nineteenth given the limited laps available.
The second and final race of this WorldSBK weekend ran in the early afternoon. During the course of lap one, Tom crashed through turn 4, damaging the bike which meant he was unable to return to the track.
The fifth Superbike World Championship round is scheduled to take place on 2-4 June at the Misano World Circuit in Italy.
Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya – Spain – Superbike World Championship
Superpole Race: 1) Bautista (Ducati) – 2) Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) – 3) Locatelli (Yamaha) – 4) Lecuona (Honda) – 5) Lowes (Kawasaki) – 6) Aegerter (Yamaha) ……. 19) Sykes (Kawasaki)
Race 2: 1) Bautista (Ducati) – 2) Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) – 3) Rinaldi (Ducati) – 4) Lowes (Kawasaki) – 5) Rea (Kawasaki) – 6) Vierge (Honda) ………. DNF) Sykes (Kawasaki)
“The Superpole race was conditioned by my starting position as I wasn’t able to gain much ground over just ten laps, while unfortunately in race 2 a crash forced me to retire already on lap one. Overall, it was a complicated weekend in which we didn’t achieve the desired results. I thank the team for all their hard work here in Barcelona.”
Tom Sykes and Puccetti Racing part ways
The British rider endured a tough start to the 2023 campaign with just a single point from four rounds
After four rounds of the 2023 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship, Tom Sykes and Kawasaki Puccetti Racing have announced their split after a difficult start to the season which did not yield the results either party desired. Only one point was scored in the 12 races so far with technical issues hampering their results throughout the season so far, with Sykes only finishing in half of the races run and scoring only a single point.
Sykes returned to WorldSBK and Kawasaki for the 2023 campaign after a year in the British Superbike championship, with Sykes reunited with the manufacturer he took his one WorldSBK title with back in 2013. His best result this season has been a 15th place at Assen in Race 2, with the 2013 Champion not classified in six of the 12 races this season. After the difficult start to the season, Sykes and Kawasaki Puccetti Racing have agreed to part ways.
Discussing his departure from Puccetti Kawasaki, Sykes said: “I had no hesitation in joining the Kawasaki Puccetti team and helping them with the refinement of their Ninja ZX-10RR package. I hope all the data I helped them accumulate over testing and the first races of the season pushes them closer to winning races in the future.”
Team Principal Manuel Puccetti was full of praise for Sykes with the hope that his feedback can spur the team on even without Sykes on the bike. He said: “My team, staff and sponsors were honoured to have Tom join us to start the season. As a former World Champion and multiple race winner, his insight has really taken our understanding of the Ninja to the next level. Now he leaves us, and we thank him for all his knowledge and for sharing so much information.”
