Phillip Island. The first Sunday of the 2020 FIM World
Superbike Championship (WorldSBK) at Phillip Island (AUS) did not go
as planned for the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team. Tom Sykes (GBR)
finished the morning’s Superpole Race in sixth position on his BMW S
1000 RR. In race two in the afternoon, he had to settle with tenth
after a technical issue. His team-mate Eugene Laverty (IRL)
unfortunately suffered a concussion in a crash in the morning’s
warm-up and was declared unfit to race after a check at the Medical Centre.
After setting a new lap record on his RR and securing his 50th
WorldSBK pole position in Saturday’s Superpole qualifying, Sykes also
started Sunday’s Superpole Race from first position on the grid. He
finished the extremely closely fought ten lap sprint in sixth
position, only 1.6 seconds behind the winner. This also meant P6 on
the grid for race two in the afternoon. After the start Sykes was in
the mix in the leading group but his efforts and the potential of the
RR remained unrewarded as on lap five, a technical issue made him drop
down to 12th place. After 22 laps of racing, he took the chequered
flag in tenth place.
Quotes after race two on Phillip Island.
Marc Bongers, BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director: “It
has been a disappointing day. Eugene felt extremely comfortable on the
bike. So he maybe was a bit over enthusiastic and unfortunately he
crashed while being on a very fast lap. The positive aspect, however,
is the fact that he clearly has developed a good feeling for the bike.
What happened is a pity, but we are glad that he did not sustain any
severe injuries apart from concussion. Tom started the morning’s race
from pole position. Here we could see that power is still an issue as
we are still losing on the straight. Sixth place however was not bad,
especially only 1.6 seconds behind the top. The field is extremely
close together this year. In race two, he unfortunately suffered a
minor technical issue that forced him to quickly restart the bike. It
seems, however, that in this race we also could not have maintained
the pace in the final stages so we focus on the combination of riding
style, chassis and tyre durability. You have to see though that
Phillip Island is a challenge in this regard and this could improve at
the next races.”
Shaun Muir, Team Principal BMW Motorrad WorldSBK
Team: “First of all, on Eugene’s side I feel really
disappointed for him because he certainly turned a corner this
morning. He felt as though we had given him a good bike and
unfortunately during this morning’s warm up got caught out on a fast
lap at T10 and crashed. The crash was a big impact crash and as a
result he was left concussed and could not continue further in the two
remaining races. To Eugene’s own admission he was a little exuberant
to crash but we don’t hold that against him, he was trying his best
and we are glad he is relatively okay and will be back for Qatar. Tom
really struggled today. The Superpole Race I think was a fair
reflection of his speed to get P6, but he was still lacking that top
speed which hurts us here. Going into the final race from sixth on the
grid, he got a good start and kept in the group but unfortunately had
a technical issue mid pack and was lucky not to be collected. He then
reset the bike and finished tenth to take a couple of points, but the
damage had been done by then as the tyre was too worn to try and catch
the front group. We will build on our qualifying and free practice
pace which has always been top 6 and try to convert it into good race
positions in Qatar.”
Tom Sykes: “It’s just been one of those weekends
where we have been a bit unlucky. We had an unbelievable qualifying
and the pace of the BMW S 1000 RR was really impressive and I felt
very comfortable on the bike. In the Superpole Race, I felt really
good. There were a few incidents on track which meant I lost around
1.6 seconds which coincidentally was the same gap to the leader at the
end of the race, but this was a good step forward for us. Going into
the final race, we stuck to our game plan, we got a good start and I
just tried a preserve the tyre a little bit. But unfortunately had a
little technical issue which lost us a bit of time. It was a
disappointment but I tried my best, the team tried their best and we
will continue to do so for Qatar.”
Eugene Laverty: “Unfortunately I had a crash in
warm-up and suffered concussion so the doctors did not allow me to
race. I understand their decision, even if it is not easy to accept as
a rider but ultimately it is the correct one. I am very disappointed
with myself for the crash as the bike was fantastic. It was the first
lap of warm-up, I should have been more tentative and I was on course
to take first position. I’d needed to take my time and be calmer
because I missed a big opportunity for the races today. I’m sorry to
the team.”