Tom Sykes

Thomas Edward Sykes (born 19 August 1985) is a professional motorcycle racer who first competed in World Superbike Championship during . For the 2022 season, Sykes rejoined his former team Paul Bird Motorsport riding a Ducati in British Superbikes, finishing in 12th place.

Following his fourth place world superbike championship finish in 2018, Sykes left the Kawasaki factory racing team and raced BMWs for Shaun Muir Racing from 2019, until being dropped by BMW Motorsport during the 2021 season with an announcement that Scott Redding had been contracted for 2022. For 2023, he raced in world superbikes for a satellite Kawasaki team.

Sykes also holds World Superbike Championship records for the most career pole positions and ranks second to Troy Corser in career race starts. When reviewing his World Superbike statistics in early 2022, UK publication Motorcycle News quoted 34 wins, 114 podiums and 51 pole positions from 349 races. For 2010, he raced a PBM Racing Kawasaki in the series. He won his first SBK title in 2013 for Kawasaki.

Early life Skyes was born 19 August 1985 in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire.

Career

Early career Sykes credits his racing career to his grandfather Peter Brook who loaned him his 600cc Ninja for a race weekend and financing his start. Sykes raced in the Supersport division of the British Superbike championship from 2003 to 2006, finishing eighth, fifth, sixth, and as runner-up to Cal Crutchlow in 2006.

British Superbike Championship (2007–2008) 2007 was Sykes' first season in the British Superbike championship, riding for the Stobart Vent-Axia Honda team alongside 2003 series champion Shane Byrne. He finished 18 of the first 20 rounds, including a pair of fourth places at Snetterton. Second on the grid at Oulton Park, and pole at Donington Park. Sykes took his first two podiums at the Croft Circuit, to move up to sixth in the championship, immediately behind Byrne, and immediately ahead of Leon Camier on another Honda.

Shortly after joining the Rizla Suzuki team for 2008, Sykes was seen testing a Suzuki MotoGP bike. Sykes started the 2008 with a sixth and an eighth at Thruxton (The first races were there as the season opener at Brands Hatch was snowed off). He took pole position at Oulton Park, but crashed at the aborted start of race 1, before finishing fifth on the restart . He led race 2 until being taken out by Leon Haslam, who was excluded for the move. Sykes continued to finish towards the front of the field consistently scoring podiums at Brands Hatch (second), Donington Park (third) and Snetterton (third) all in the first of the two races. It was at Oulton Park where he scored his first two victories, taking the lead from James Ellison late in race 1 but leading most of race 2. He followed that up with a third straight win at Knockhill in the first race, and collected podiums for the rest of the championship. Sykes finished fourth in the championship with 316 points, two points behind Cal Crutchlow.

Superbike World Championship

2008–2021

Sykes made his World Superbike Championship debut at Brands Hatch as a wildcard, impressing by qualifying sixth (ahead of three works Suzukis with more powerful engines, including title contender Max Neukirchner). He retired from a strong position in race 1 due to a hole in the radiator by rocks thrown up by Max Biaggi's Sterilgarda Ducati machine, but came back to finish sixth in race 2. He gained a second wildcard meeting at Donington Park in changeable conditions, where he proved even stronger. He again qualified on the second row, but got a flying start in race one and had a comfortable lead when the race was red-flagged due to oil from Noriyuki Haga's Yamaha. Knowing he had to finish within four seconds of Troy Bayliss to win on aggregate, Sykes lead early in race two, before easing off after seeing a white flag with a red cross, which typically means a slippery surface (often with the yellow and red striped oil flag), but racing in British Superbike Championship races, the flag neutralises the race under a full-course caution period with safety car deployment, so Sykes and Leon Haslam both eased up, anticipating neutralisation, but the time lost here proved costly, as Sykes failed to stay close enough to Bayliss, finishing second behind the three-time series champion. He was less competitive in race two, but his reputation had still been boosted.

On 11 September 2008, Sykes signed a contract with the Yamaha Motor Italia World Superbike team for the 2009 season, with an option to extend that contract until 2010 depending on results. enabling him to stay in the World Superbike class. Sykes said “It’s going to be a challenge, but I’m looking forward to it. I believe that from what is in place in the team we’re going to be able to do a good job.”

The Kawasaki was relatively uncompetitive in 2010, but Sykes managed a strong fifth place at Monza. He was the team leader for much of the year, with the more experienced Chris Vermeulen struggling following a knee injury sustained at the first round at Phillip Island. Despite speculation as to his future with the team, Sykes flew to Japan to help test the ZX-10R, the bike the team will use for 2011. He made a wildcard appearance with the team in the British Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch.

On the final weekend of the 2010 World Superbike Championship season, Sykes confirmed that he had signed a one-year contract with Kawasaki that would see him ride in the 2011 Superbike World Championship season.

Sykes crashed in the chicane at Donington Park shortly after he passed an Aprilia and moved up to fourth place and he was taken out of the race while his teammates managed mid-placings. He finished close to last in race 2, but Lascorz made sixth. In the following race at the Nürburgring however, he gained his first victory in Race 2.

In the following season, Sykes became runner-up, missing the title only by half a point against Max Biaggi.

Sykes was crowned the 2013 World Superbike Champion after securing the third-place finish he needed to secure a popular title victory at Jerez, while Eugene Laverty took a dramatic last corner victory over Marco Melandri.

On 21 June 2014, Sykes captured his 21st career Superpole at Italy's Misano World Circuit for round seven of the series.

By the end of the 2018 season, Sykes and the Kawasaki Racing Team mutually agreed to end their sporting relationship.

Return (2023) After a year of absence, Sykes signed a contract with Puccetti Kawasaki Racing. He would compete at Superbike World Championship in 2023.

Career statistics All-time statistics Series Years Races Poles Podiums Wins 2nd place 3rd place Fastest laps Titles Points British Superbike Championship 2007–2008, 2010, 2022, 2025 88 2 20 7 6 7 0 0 843 Superbike World Championship 2009−2021, 2023 359 51 114 34 38 42 39 1 3701.5 Total 445 53 132 41 44 49 39 1 4544.5

British Supersport Championship

Races by year (key) Year Class Bike SIL BHI SNE OUL MON SNE BHGP KNO MAL CRO CAD OUL DON Pos Pts Ref 2004 BSS Suzuki 10 Ret 7 14 4 10 Ret 5 9 4 2 2 3 5th 123 Year Class Biks BHI THR MAL OUL MON CRO KNO SNE SIL CAD OUL DON BHGP Pos Pts Ref 2005 BSS Suzuki Ret 9 2 1 1 4 3 Ret 4 5th 119 Year Class Bike BHI DON THR OUL MON MAL SNE KNO OUL CRO CAD SIL BHGP Pos Pts Ref 2006 BSS Suzuki 9 5 6 3 C 3 3 Ret 2 2 2 2 3 2nd 172

British Superbike Championship

Races by year (key) Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pos Pts Ref R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R3 2010 Kawasaki BHI BHI THR THR OUL OUL CAD CAD MAL MAL KNO KNO SNE SNE SNE BHGP5 BHGP1 BHGP1 CAD CAD CRO CRO SIL SIL OUL OUL OUL 16th 61

Superbike World Championship

Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Pts R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 2008 Suzuki QAT QAT AUS AUS SPA SPA NED NED ITA ITA USA USA GER GER SMR SMR CZE CZE GBRRet GBR7 EUR2 EUR10 ITA ITA FRA FRA POR POR 21st 35 2009 Yamaha AUS10 AUS10 QAT7 QAT5 SPA7 SPA10 NED4 NED6 ITA6 ITA6 RSA10 RSA9 USA13 USA9 SMR8 SMR7 GBRRet GBR5 CZERet CZE7 GER9 GER8 ITA9 ITA12 FRARet FRARet PORDNS PORDNS 9th 176 2010 Kawasaki AUS13 AUSRet POR15 POR13 SPA11 SPA15 NED12 NEDRet ITA9 ITA 5 RSA16 RSA14 USA13 USA14 SMR15 SMR16 CZE11 CZERet GBR18 GBR14 GER5 GER7 ITA6 ITA4 FRA7 FRA11 14th 106 2011 Kawasaki AUS8 AUS9 EURRet EUR12 NED14 NED11 ITA13 ITA11 USA6 USA10 SMR4 SMR14 SPA5 SPARet CZE10 CZE14 GBRDNS GBRDNS GER11 GER1 ITA4 ITARet FRA8 FRARet POR10 PORRet 13th 141 2012 Kawasaki AUS4 AUS3 ITA2 ITA2 NEDRet NED6 ITAC ITA1 EUR3 EUR3 USA8 USA5 SMR4 SMR7 SPARet SPA8 CZE2 CZE2 GBR8 GBR12 RUS1 RUS2 GER4 GER5 POR1 PORRet FRA3 FRA1 2nd 357.5 2013 Kawasaki AUS5 AUS5 SPARet SPA3 NED1 NED2 ITA2 ITA3 GBR1 GBR1 POR3 PORNC ITA1 ITA1 RUSRet RUSC GBR11 GBR7 GER1 GER4 TUR3 TUR2 USA1 USA4 FRA1 FRA1 SPA3 SPA2 1st 447 2014 Kawasaki AUS7 AUS3 SPA1 SPA1 NED2 NED4 ITA3 ITA5 GBR1 GBR1 MALRet MAL3 SMR1 SMR1 POR1 POR8 USA3 USA1 SPA5 SPA3 FRA4 FRA4 QAT3 QAT3 2nd 410 2015 Kawasaki AUS6 AUS4 THA3 THA5 SPA3 SPARet NED5 NED5 ITA2 ITA2 GBR1 GBR1 POR2 POR8 SMR1 SMR5 USA2 USA2 MAL5 MAL14 SPA1 SPA5 FRA2 FRA3 QAT3 QAT3 3rd 399 2016 Kawasaki AUS5 AUS6 THA2 THA1 SPA3 SPA2 NEDRet NED2 ITA3 ITA3 MAL1 MAL8 GBR1 GBR1 ITA 2 ITA 2 USA 2 USA 1 GER 2 GER 12 FRA 3 FRA 3 SPA2 SPA3 QAT4 QAT2 2nd 447 Kawasaki AUS3 AUS6 THA3 THA2 ARA3 ARA4 NED2 NED2 ITA4 ITA3 GBR1 GBR2 ITA1 ITA3 USA3 USA2 GER3 GER4 PORDNS PORDNS FRA3 FRA7 SPA3 SPA5 QAT6 QATRet 3rd 373 2018 Kawasaki AUS2 AUS4 THA6 THARet SPA6 SPA6 NED4 NED1 ITA2 ITA3 GBR3 GBR6 CZE3 CZE16 USA7 USA8 ITA5 ITA5 POR5 POR5 FRA2 FRA4 ARG6 ARG5 QAT2 QATC 4th 314 Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Pts R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 2019 BMW AUS7 AUS11 AUS13 THA9 THA10 THARet SPA5 SPA5 SPA12 NED10 NEDC NED7 ITARet ITA8 ITAC SPA6 SPA5 SPA7 ITA2 ITARet ITA6 GBR2 GBRRet GBR7 USA4 USA3 USA5 POR13 POR7 POR9 FRA3 FRA8 FRA8 ARG7 ARG9 ARGRet QATRet QAT12 QAT12 8th 223 2020 BMW AUS9 AUS6 AUS10 SPANC SPA6 SPA11 POR8 POR6 POR7 SPARet SPA15 SPA12 SPA10 SPA9 SPARet SPARet SPA9 SPA5 FRARet FRA20 FRA10 POR10 POR11 POR10 12th 88 2021 BMW SPA6 SPARet SPA4 POR14 POR7 POR8 ITA8 ITA7 ITA12 GBR4 GBR2 GBR3 NED7 NED7 NED15 CZE9 CZE5 CZE9 SPA6 SPA6 SPA5 FRA9 FRA12 FRA10 SPA8 SPARet SPARet SPA SPA SPA POR POR POR ARG ARG ARG INA10 INAC INA5 11th 1842023 Kawasaki AUS AUS AUS INA INA INA NED NED NED SPA SPA SPA 20th 11 BMW EMI EMI EMI GBR GBR GBR ITA ITA ITA CZE CZE CZE FRA FRA FRA SPA SPA SPA POR POR POR JER JER JER