Oulton BSB: ‘Unstable’ Panigale limiting Sykes

Former WorldSBK king Tom Sykes has admitted some dry-weather instability with his MCE Ducati Panigale is limiting progress at the Oulton Park Bennetts British Superbike round.

Sykes put in some good laps during yesterday’s wet qualifying but a dry first race saw him slip backwards and score only a single pointm while team-mate Josh Brookes was fighting for a podium slot.

“We’re running with a few limitations at the moment with the main issue being not being Tom Sykesable to get on the gas like we need to,” said Sykes.

“The bike’s a bit unstable and if you can’t use the gas when and how you need to, it means you lose ground each lap and in the dry that equates to quite a lot of time.

“I was strong in the wet and felt comfortable on the bike and felt unlucky not to be higher up the grid, but I didn’t make the greatest of starts and it’s hard to claw the gap back.

“Some of the boys are a bit special round here but the team are working hard, and we’ll aim to be a lot stronger tomorrow.”