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Tom Sykes and the Kawasaki Racing Team (KRT) WorldSBK have announced their split at the end of 2018.
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Months of speculation and drama between Sykes and teammate Jonathan Rea have led to the decision.
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Sykes has gathered 34 wins, 106 podiums, and one championship crown during his nine seasons with KRT.
After nine great seasons together in WorldSBK, Tom Sykes and the Kawasaki Racing Team (KRT) will be parting ways at the end of the 2018 season. After months of speculations and slightly hostile environment between Sykes and his teammate Jonathan Rea, the decision to leave wasn’t really a surprising one.
KRT made it clear that they were one Rea’s side when they extended his contract well into 2020. Sykes gathered quite a statistic figure in the past nine years racing with Kawasaki. To date, he has gathered 34 wins, 106 podiums, a record-topping 46 pole-positions, and most importantly, one championship win back in 2013.
According to the man himself, “I feel the time has arrived; the moment to make a change in my career and seek new challenges. Having the motivation to push to your limits and that of your machine is all the more important when you look for the victory at every race and I feel I have given all I can within KRT. I am now the best rider I have ever been, and I have the experience and performance to keep winning.”
“So now I have decided to make a step away from the KRT project for 2019 and look for new goals and challenges. I will now concentrate to finish on the podium for the last four rounds of 2018. I am determined to enjoy my racing and making this announcement effectively ends all speculation.”
“The timing of this big career decision is never easy but it is especially difficult as my personal life also faces big changes. Regarding this, I feel the weight of pressure has been slightly lifted from my shoulders and I am sure 2019 will allow me to operate at full capacity”.
The big question now is, will Sykes stick to WorldSBK or is there an offer for him waiting in MotoGP amongst the private teams? Stay tuned to Bikes Republic for more updates.
Image source: WorldSBK
