Tom Sykes to leave KRT at end of season 2018
Tom Sykes
“I feel the time has arrived; the moment to make a change in my career and seek new challenges. Having the motivation to push to your limits and that of your machine is all the more important when you look for the victory at every race and I feel I have given all I can within KRT. I am now the best rider I have ever been, and I have the experience and performance to keep winning. So now I have decided to make a step away from the KRT project for 2019 and look for new goals and challenges. I will now concentrate to finish on the podium for the last four rounds of 2018. I am determined to enjoy my racing and making this announcement effectively ends all speculation. The timing of this big career decision is never easy but it is especially difficult as my personal life also faces big changes. Regarding this I feel the weight of pressure has been slightly lifted from my shoulders and I am sure 2019 will allow me to operate at full capacity”.
Sykes will seek a new challenge for 2019 after a total of nine years of racing and development on Kawasaki machinery in WorldSBK, including of course his World Superbike Championship victory in 2013.
Guim Roda – KRT Team Manager
“It has been a busy few weeks recently and for sure we have talked many hours internally. In the most recent rounds Tom’s concentration was not able to be the best, as he was dealing with a big decision – apart from some family points to solve – this has taken a lot of his concentration over the past two years. I hope this final confirmation will give us room to finish the year in the same way we dominated in Assen. We have big job to do until end of year, so is not time to say good bye yet. Of course this is an announcement of intentions for 2019 but the more important is to work hard to finish the year with the same determination that we started with”.
