Tom Sykes experienced an action-packed debut for Rizla Suzuki at
Thruxton last weekend, bouncing back from two heavy falls - one of which stopped race two - to take the lead at the restart, before tyre problems saw him slide backwards through the pack.
Sykes eventually finished sixth and eighth, from twelfth on the grid, to hold an early fifth in the 2008 BSB standings...
Q:
Tell us about your day...
Tom Sykes:
I had a good start form the third row of the grid in race one and almost passed Shane Byrne, who was on pole, so the starting of the bike is fantastic. We learnt a couple of things in that race and made some changes for race two.
I got another fantastic start in race two and was lying third or fourth, just settling in really. I was able to put the bike where I wanted to. I was settling into a rhythm and feeling strong.
Q:
And then 'something' happened...
Tom Sykes:
It was a bit unexpected. I was battling with Haslam. He'd just taken Harris off the track. I'd made the most of that and gained two positions. He came underneath me at the complex. I passed him back and then he passed me back. He had the inside line - and that's fair enough, I let him have that - but he just pulled across my nose to get a good run on the exit.
I wasn't really expecting it because he knew I was there. Obviously I had nowhere to go. I closed the throttle but it was too late; I caught my front wheel on his rear wheel and down I went. Unfortunately I took Karl Harris down with me. It's a shame and it destroyed the bike.
Q:
Were you injured at all?
Tom Sykes:
I took a knock to my eye and chin. My chin is big enough and it's even bigger now!
Q:
How did you feel about the second race after that?
Tom Sykes:
I had to use the spare bike so a couple of things that weren't identical engine wise. That was no problem, I was able to ride around that and got another good start, but when I tried to make a break I knew straight away that the rear tyre had no performance at all.
