Tom Sykes and his Rizla Suzuki team are gearing up for their second appearance on the world stage as round 11 of the World Superbike Championship takes place at Donington Park in Leicestershire this weekend, with Sykes hoping to pull in an impressive result.
On his debut outing at World Superbike level during round 10 of the Championship at Brands Hatch, Sykes surprised and impressed the regular front runners by taking the fight to the likes of Troy Bayliss, Noriyuki Haga and Max Biaggi on his BSB specification Rizla Suzuki.
He ran in a superb third place until a stone-hole in his radiator forced him to retire in race one, although he went on to claim a strong seventh place on the second outing.
Donington Park is Sykes’s favourite circuit and he will be out to thrill his home crowd with his determined, no nonsense riding style. Having elevated himself to second place in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship standings at Cadwell Park, Sykes is on a roll and hopes to bring his British success with him once again as he takes on the World Superbike riders.
First qualifying takes place on Friday 5th September, with second qualifying and Superpole on Saturday 6th September. Race one takes place on Sunday 7th September at 1200 with race two at 1530. The racing will be shown live on British Eurosport from 1030-1630.
Jack Valentine, Team Manager Rizla Suzuki:“I’m really looking forward to our second chance at World Superbikes following our results at Brands Hatch. We now have the opportunity to do Donington Park so we are hoping for even better results there.
“Donington is one of Tom’s favourite tracks. We will be at a slight disadvantage like last time as we are running a BSB specification engine but we hope to get the fans behind us like at Brands Hatch.
“We have already completed a World Superbike round so the team is used to the routine of the weekend and that will make it a little easier. I’m pleased that Rizla Suzuki has agreed to back us up to do this additional round. It gives us another chance to show the World what we and Tom are capable of achieving.”
