Donington BSB: Double win ‘big morale boost’ for Sykes

After a season that’s fallen a long way short of everyone’s expectations, Donington Park reminded everyone of just how much Tom Sykes still has to offer the sport, the MCE Ducati rider taking a stunning pair of BSB victories.

Sykes came into the meeting on the back of his best result of the season, sixth at Oulton Park, and with such a strong record at Donington, hopes were high for the MCE Ducati rider and third in qualifying got the ball rolling. However, that was nothing compared to Saturday’s 15-lap Sprint race where he led from start to finish, controlling the race impeccably to eventually come home 1.476s clear of Jason O’Halloran. It was Sykes’ first BSB victory since he took a double on the PBM Kawasaki at Brands Hatch in 2010 and the first win for Paul Bird’s team since July 2021. “I was obviously hoping for more this season but Donington Park’s more of a Superbike circuit than some of the others we’ve been to,” he said afterwards. “I still had a couple of limitations with the bike but I was able to ride round them and put the MCE Ducati where I wanted to, taking advantage of the strengths we had in other areas.” Starting Sunday’s opening front race from the front row, he lay in third place in the early stages before overhauling firstly Andrew Irwin and then championship leader Bradley Ray to take the lead. Once there, the race followed a similar pattern to Saturday as he again controlled the race perfectly. “I was happy with how the opening race went and although I didn’t get the best of starts, I was soon into my rhythm. I knew where the Ducati was strong and pushed hard in those areas and although I wasn’t necessarily planning on making the move by Andrew (Irwin) when I did, I showed him a wheel, made the pass