MotoGP – Tom Sykes may get a satellite bike

Bruno Gomes

May 16, 2018

Tom Sykes isn’t happy in Kawasaki, and may make a move to MotoGP

Having won the title in World Superbike, Tom Sykes, who currently races for Kawasaki Racing Team, is one of the most experienced riders and also one of the fastest. But lately things haven’t gone the way he hoped for, especially since Jonathan Rea arrived at the team.

For this reason, Tom Sykes is now considering the move to MotoGP as a way to continue racing. The British rider spoke to German news website SpeedWeek and told he is looking at many options, and one of them is make the transition from World SBK to MotoGP

“I’ve got an eye in MotoGP. The philosophy they have there has more to do with me than what I’m doing now”, said Sykes.

But the 2013 World Superbike champion is currently riding on a factory bike for Kawasaki, and if he moves to MotoGP, he won’t be able to get a factory ride. Is that a problem

For Tom Sykes that won’t be a problem, and says that for example a satellite team like Tech3 has shown that they can fight with the factory teams without having a factory bike. This doesn’t mean that Sykes and Tech3 are negotiating a deal, but just shows that Sykes won’t be bothered if he gets a satellite bike in MotoGP.

But a move to MotoGP isn’t the only option for Tom Sykes.

While Kawasaki Racing hasn’t talked with him about a renewal of his contract, Sykes has been seen visiting other teams like PATA Yamaha.

Michael van der Mark, rider for the factory Yamaha team in Superbike, says that he has seen Tom Sykes more and more often in the Yamaha garage, but the Dutch rider admits that he doesn’t know what Sykes has been doing there and everyone from the Yamaha team is keeping tight lips about this subject.

For Tom Sykes, a move to the PATA Yamaha team would be a return to a team he knows well. He has raced for Yamaha when he joined the World Superbike paddock back in 2009, but at the time he was overshadowed by the performance of Ben Spies who won the title that year.

Whatever the decision Tom Sykes makes, it seems he won’t be staying with Kawasaki for much longer.