World Superbike contender Tom Sykes made his Brands Hatch return today, flying in from a test in Japan this morning, to be out on track in time for the opening free practice session which he ended third fastest.

Sykes has been testing at the Kawasaki test track this week but despite the hectic schedule the Kawasaki World Superbike Championship team got off to a flying start, running a close second towards the end of the session before Ryuichi Kiyonari pushed him back to third.

Sykes said:

"I am really looking forward to this weekend; it has been a hectic few days for me as I left Silverstone on Monday morning and then I got to Japan Tuesday evening to test for Kawasaki at their test track. I had the time there and then I flew back yesterday to arrive here in time for the first free practice session. I was out the airport at 9:15, but my morning didn't get off to the best start. The airline lost one of my cases, which is the one that had my Shark race helmets in, so I have had to find a replacement for now as mine are in Paris!

"The practice this morning though has cheered me up; I got to the track with ten minutes into the session and quickly got into my leathers and was straight out there. I was a bit surprised that the settings we had in the bike worked straight out of the box, but I am not complaining that's for sure! I am happy with how it went this morning, I have a few problems that I need to work through this afternoon on the front end of the bike as I was braking heavily and pushing the front too much into the corners, so that's something to look at this afternoon after a couple of strong cups of coffee!"