Tom Sykes and Loris Baz head to Donington Park for Tom’s home round this weekend filled with the expectation of strong results at a venue that should offer good opportunities to both KRT riders.

Sykes was impressed by how well his Ninja ZX-10R performed at the ultra high-speed circuit of Monza last time out and at Donington, a track which he believes is even more suited to his machine’s wide ranging performance package, Sykes has every reason to be confident approaching his local event.

Baz is no stranger to Donington Park as he passes through the career milestone of one year in the official Kawasaki Racing Team set-up, which he joined at Donington last season. Already on the podium this year, going third at Assen, he is looking to make the most of qualifying and then keep in contention with the leading riders all through Sunday’s races.

Both official Kawasaki runners are proven SBK race winners on the awesome Ninja ZX-10R but each is still looking for a first career win in this class at Donington.

With the championship now getting tighter in terms of points spread between the leaders Sykes is now only 18 points from the very top, having won a race at Assen and taken five podium finishes from the eight races so far.

Loris, still only 20-years-old, sits in sixth place with a season highpoint of third in race two at Assen contributing to his strong early showings.

Federico Sandi (Kawasaki Team Pedercini) will be joined at Donington by his regular team-mate Alex Lundh, who missed the recent Monza round after suffering a collarbone injury at the Assen weekend in April.

The Superstock 1000 FIM Cup and Superstock 600 European Championship classes will miss out on the Donington race weekend but will reconvene at Portimao on Portugal for the fourth round of these championships on June 9.


Tom Sykes:

“I am really looking forward to Donington. Monza for me was one of the hardest circuits we should have gone to, even though we won there last year, but we got on the podium twice. Donington is a flowing, twisting circuit so I am looking forward to riding my Ninja ZX-10R there. There are no real straights so it should be really good. It has always been a favourite of mine and I am very excited to go there with a fast and consistent package on the bike. I have led races at Donington in the past and we have been able to make good laps even at the end of races this year at a variety of different tracks, so I am really looking forward to Donington because it should be a nice one for me and the bike.”

Loris Baz:

“I have taken some time out relaxing after Monza and I feel 100% again. I am impatient waiting to get to Donington and it is now one year since I started racing in Superbike with the team. I did not race BSB at Donington when I was doing that championship but I raced there in SBK last year and two times in Superstock before that. It should be a better track than Monza for us and only that final slow part that is not so much fun to ride. The final part is like it was not designed by the same guy that did the main part but it gives us some places where to overtake. We have improved our set-up a lot at Aragon, found some positive things at Monza too, so I am sure we will be really good in all the first section at Donington. Then I'm sure we should also find improvements in the last two corners. I would like to be inside the top five in both races and this weekend I am really looking for that.”

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