MotorSportsAlive Story
Kawasaki Superbike Racing Team 2010
News Tuesday 08th March 2010
Kawasaki have always put a lot of effort into it's motorcycle racing and it's no different in the 2010 World Superbike Championship. With two strong riders they have a great chance of producing some good results. Here is a look at the team.
Tom Sykes
Kawasaki Superbike Racing Team
One of the brightest stars to have emerged from the British racing scene recently, Sykes already had significant Superbike experience before joining WSB for the first time last year. A proven podium rider as a WSB wildcard in 2008, Tom is stepping up again in 2010, as he rejoins some familiar faces in his pit garage.
Name: Tom Sykes
Riding Number: 66
Class: World Superbike
Date of birth: 19 August 1985
Hometown: Huddersfield
Nationality: British
During a career that started out running on two strokes GP style machinery, 24-year-old Tom Sykes has turned himself into one of the best Superbike riders in the world in a relatively short time.
Racing his grandfather’s 600 Kawasaki roadbike for a short time in the UK, just to understand how a four-stroke machine worked on a circuit, Sykes soon moved into the British Supersport Championship proper, enjoyed almost instant success, and was runner up in the 2006 season.
Paul Bird Motorsport picked up Tom for a season of BSB racing in 2007, and five podium places contributed to a fine top six ranking, in arguably the toughest domestic championship there is.
A year later and, after posting race wins in the UK series for another team, and taking a podium in the British round of the World Superbike Championship, Tom was in a strong position to be signed for WSB full time in 2009.
A tough first year, marred by injury towards the end, was not in Tom’s pre-season script, but he did impress on occasion, and finished ahead of many bigger WSB names.
It says much about Tom’s abilities and potential that in a year when many top riders were available for any top team to pick, the official Kawasaki squad has opted to go with the Yorkshireman, based on their previous shared experience in BSB in 2007.
Name: Tom Sykes
Riding Number: 66
Class: World Superbike
Date of birth: 19 August 1985
Hometown: Huddersfield
Nationality: British
During a career that started out running on two strokes GP style machinery, 24-year-old Tom Sykes has turned himself into one of the best Superbike riders in the world in a relatively short time.
Racing his grandfather’s 600 Kawasaki roadbike for a short time in the UK, just to understand how a four-stroke machine worked on a circuit, Sykes soon moved into the British Supersport Championship proper, enjoyed almost instant success, and was runner up in the 2006 season.
Paul Bird Motorsport picked up Tom for a season of BSB racing in 2007, and five podium places contributed to a fine top six ranking, in arguably the toughest domestic championship there is.
A year later and, after posting race wins in the UK series for another team, and taking a podium in the British round of the World Superbike Championship, Tom was in a strong position to be signed for WSB full time in 2009.
A tough first year, marred by injury towards the end, was not in Tom’s pre-season script, but he did impress on occasion, and finished ahead of many bigger WSB names.
It says much about Tom’s abilities and potential that in a year when many top riders were available for any top team to pick, the official Kawasaki squad has opted to go with the Yorkshireman, based on their previous shared experience in BSB in 2007.
Racing his grandfather’s 600 Kawasaki roadbike for a short time in the UK, just to understand how a four-stroke machine worked on a circuit, Sykes soon moved into the British Supersport Championship proper, enjoyed almost instant success, and was runner up in the 2006 season.
Paul Bird Motorsport picked up Tom for a season of BSB racing in 2007, and five podium places contributed to a fine top six ranking, in arguably the toughest domestic championship there is.
A year later and, after posting race wins in the UK series for another team, and taking a podium in the British round of the World Superbike Championship, Tom was in a strong position to be signed for WSB full time in 2009.
A tough first year, marred by injury towards the end, was not in Tom’s pre-season script, but he did impress on occasion, and finished ahead of many bigger WSB names.
It says much about Tom’s abilities and potential that in a year when many top riders were available for any top team to pick, the official Kawasaki squad has opted to go with the Yorkshireman, based on their previous shared experience in BSB in 2007.
Career Resume
2009:
9th Superbike World Championship
2008:
4th | British Superbike Championship, podium in WSB as wildcard
2007:
6th | British Superbike Championship
2006:
2nd | British Supersport Championship
2005:
6th | British Supersport Championship
Chris Vermeulen
Kawasaki Superbike Racing Team
A proven world championship winner in his Supersport days and a potential champion in any class of racing, Chris Vermeulen has vast experience for a 27-year-old. He has raced hard and well enough to win races in MotoGP, World Superbike and World Supersport, and also impress his peers in every single class of racing he has come through.
Name: Chris Vermeulen
Riding Number: 77
Class: World Superbike
Date of birth: 19 June 1982
Hometown: Resident Andorra, born Brisbane
Nationality: Australian
Weight: 67 kg
Height: 1.75 m
One of many Australian riders to have made his main impact after leaving his native land to pursue his ambitions in the British Championships, Vermeulen has made a progression right to the top in recent times.
A talented dirt rider, dirt tracker and road racer as soon as he was old enough to qualifying for the relevant licences in Australia, Vermeulen first came to prominence in a global sense when he easily won the Donington round of the 2000 Superstock 1000 European Championship. He also made it to three WSS rounds that same year.
Picked up full time in 2001, Vermeulen improved to the point of winning the WSS championship by some margin in 2003.
His career in World Superbike was instantly successful in 2004, winning four races in his rookie season, then finishing runner-up in the series one year later. Having had his first taste of MotoGP in 2005 as well, he was snapped up to race MotoGP in 2006.
MotoGP has been his workplace for four years, and a race win and seven podiums overall have proved his class and quality as a rider.
Now back on a factory Superbike, his ambition to be crowned champion in World Superbike has merely been sharpened by his time away.
From the start of his relationship with Kawasaki he has been going all out to add to his WSB career statistics of 23 podiums - including 10 race wins - from only 45 individual races so far.
Career Resume
2009:
12th FIM MotoGP World Championship
2008:
8th | FIM MotoGP World Championship
2007:
6th | FIM MotoGP World Championship
2006:
11th | FIM MotoGP World Championship
2005:
2nd | FIM Superbike World Championship
2004:
4th | FIM Superbike World Championship
2003:
1st | FIM Supersport World Championship
2002:
7th | FIM Superbike World Championship
2001:
17th | FIM Superbike World Championship
Stanley Leroux Design
