Tom Sykes now returns to action on his KRT Ninja ZX-10R as the Superbike World Championship arrives at the Istanbul Park circuit but his team-mate Loris Baz has had to pull out of the event.

At the previous round in Germany Sykes won the first race of the day and then retook the championship lead by a single point after finishing fourth in the second race. Sykes now has four rounds and eight individual points scoring races left in which to grow his season total of six race wins and maintain his advantage.

Baz was one of a few high profile fallers at the previous SBK round in Germany, forcing him out of the event after a fast crash in morning warm-up. After several medical checks in the run up to the Istanbul Park race weekend the French rider headed to Turkey intent on racing. Final pre-race medical checks on his condition show evidence of a small area of damage on his D4 vertebrae, although this may be an old injury. Until further tests are done to make the situation absolutely clear all parties involved have taken the decision that Loris should take no risk, sit-out the Turkish race and continue his recovery programme.

Baz is sixth in the championship rankings after round ten, having taken a race win at Silverstone and a podium of third at Assen back in April.

Unlike most of his immediate rivals in the championship Tom has not ridden at the 5.340km circuit on the Asian side of the vast Istanbul metropolis before. Some former GP riders have experienced the thrill of a track that has some super-fast corners and also features many challenging changes of direction and gradient.

SBK rider Federico Sandi (Kawasaki Team Pedercini) and Mark Aitchison (Kawasaki Team Pedercini) will once more fight for points this weekend. There will be no Superstock events at the Turkish round, with the stock classes not reconvening until the penultimate round of the year, at Magny-Cours in early October.

For the Superbike class the next round after Turkey will be at a returning SBK favourite circuit, Laguna Seca in the USA, with raceday coming on Sunday 29 September.


Tom Sykes:

“We left the previous round in Germany with a win and the lead in the championship and it is a new track in Istanbul now. It’s a track I had never seen before while some of my competitors have been there to race. That was a few years ago and we will just try to work a little bit harder to learn it well. Kawasaki was there with the MotoGP project so there will be some data and information that we can utilise I am sure. We are going to use our time in the long first practice session in the best way possible. I already have a plan laid out with my crew chief Marcel and hopefully that will give us that little bit extra. The Ninja ZX-10R has been quite consistent in most circuits, which is a nice thing for the rider. In fast circuits, stop/start circuits, we can go equally well and that is a great feeling. We worked hard over the winter and it is paying off because we are where we need to be in the championship now.”

Loris Baz:

“My injuries are getting better and better but to make sure, to not take any risk, we have all decided it is better not to ride here. There will be a new scan on the affected area soon and if there is no change in the condition it means that the fracture is old. If there is evidence of it healing it means that it is fresh, so we will see this before I go to America for the next round. If I had a broken leg I would race - with the back it is too much of a risk. Even if I was trying to be careful you can still crash. Also, if I ride to be careful I could lose the good feeling I have had with the bike. When we are sure I am OK then I can restart at the same high level as I was riding at in qualifying at the Nürburgring.”


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