The divorce between Tom Sykes and the Kawasaki Racing team has been known for a while now, but it has just been made official by the team. This announcement puts an end to nine years of collaboration.
Tom Sykes and Team Kawasaki Racing decided not to renew their contract in 2019 after nine years of collaboration and a world champion title. The Briton has brought a lot to the team, not only in terms of the change in approach to Grands Prix, but also in the development of the Ninja ZX-10R.
He will also have left his mark on the team with his talent. With 252 starts, including 222 for Kawasaki, he won one world champion title, three vice-champion titles, 34 victories, 106 podiums and 46 pole positions. Something to be proud of and be able to move on: “I feel that the time has come to make changes in my career and aim for new challenges. Having the motivation to push your limits and those of your machine is the most important thing when you want to achieve victory in every race and I feel that I gave everything I could with the KRT. The right timing to make this kind of decision is never easy to find, but it is particularly difficult given that my personal life is also changing a lot. »
We don't yet know what Tom Sykes will do next year, but he seems very determined: “I am now better than I have ever been and I have the experience and performance to keep winning. »
Of course, before thinking about 2019, we must finish 2018 at the best level, which he intends to do: “I will now focus on the next four meetings of the season, where I would like to finish on the podium. »
The team manager of the Kawasaki Racing Team, Guim Roda, also expressed himself: “The last few weeks have been intense and we have obviously discussed long hours internally. During the last Grand Prix, Tom lacked the concentration to be the best because he was thinking about this big decision, in addition to dealing with family problems. We still have a lot of work to do so the time has not yet come to say goodbye. »
