Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) scored a fourth and a fifth place finish today to gain valuable championship points and retain third place overall. KRT rider Loris Baz went eighth in race two.

Sykes had high hopes of repeating his recent race winning form in what were perfect riding conditions at the Nürburgring but despite the hard work and long runs the team did using he softer rear compound tyre in practice Tom lost rear traction midway through the first race and was forced to drop positions, finishing a distant but battling fourth. Baz had fallen with only three laps remaining, losing his chance of a definite dry weather top five finish, just behind his team-mate.

In race two Tom opted for a harder rear tyre to make sure he could go race distance but having used the softer one for so much of practice ultimate performance was missing and he finished fifth, albeit only seven seconds off the win this time around. Loris found his own rear issues in this race and he had to settle for an eighth place finish.

Team Pedercini Kawasaki rider David Salom did not start in Germany as he underwent observation on a local hospital after his Superpole crash, but the Spanish rider was given the all clear after a scan and some rest. Alexander Lundh (Team Pedercini Kawasaki) was 16th in race one, missing out on a point by one place, then being forced to retire in race two.

Tom Sykes:

“There is a question mark over race one because we used the same kind of tyre that we had used all weekend, the softer of the rear tyre selections, and we have done race distance on two of these tyres. On each occasion we have been able to do 1’55 laps at the end of the simulated race. So it is very strange today. We did 1’55s very comfortably at the beginning of the race then we had a massive drop in tyre performance. It was rear chatter but more like bouncing today and that is something we have never experienced with this bike, let alone this weekend. We made a tyre choice change and went to the ‘B’ rear, which we were not keen to do. Things could have been much better. Some other riders had a worse day than us so I am quite happy to take good points in each race. A difficult day but we pulled points ultimately we cut the championship lead a bit. We will keep working hard for more good finishes.”

Loris Baz:

“I am not happy about the second race because we had some big chatter problems and we could not brake anywhere near where I was braking yesterday. I had to brake ten meters early and could not put any lean angle on the left side. We made some changes from race one, towards the set-up we had in Superpole yesterday and we had no problems then. We got an eighth place which considering all the problems we had was not too bad. I am disappointed about not finishing race one as I was going to score a dry track top five finish, which was an objective for the season. I do not know why I fell but maybe because we had some small chatter there. It is a big shame and I want to apologise to the team. We did make another step this weekend, however, and I am confident for the next races.”

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