Ex-World Champion Tom Sykes will start in the British Superbike Championship in the 2022 season and will pilot a factory-supported Ducati Panigale V4R
Tom Sykes will return to the British Superbike Championship for the 2022 season. The 2013 World Superbike Champion moves to PBM-Ducati and will pilot a factory-supported Panigale V4R as teammate to Josh Brookes. Sykes turned down an offer from BMW to pilot a factory M1000RR in the Bonovo team in the autumn of 2021.
“I’m really excited and motivated to take on this great challenge in BSB with PBM,” commented Sykes, who raced in BSB for the last time to date in 2008. “There is no better national championship. The level is really high. There’s a lot of great talent here.”
Sykes is particularly excited about returning to Paul Bird: “It’s fantastic to be riding for PBM again. I’ve ridden for this team before, both in BSB and WSBK. They are well equipped for the task ahead. “
After riding for Yamaha, Kawasaki and BMW in the World Superbike Championship, and having ridden material with Honda and Suzuki in BSB before that, Sykes will get the chance to pilot a Ducati for the first time.
“I will be riding a Ducati for the first time in my career after competing for five other manufacturers in the Superbike category. That adds to the excitement and motivation,” explains the experienced Briton.
“It will also be really interesting to discover the character of the bike within the different technical rules. It makes me really happy to be a part of PBM and Ducati in BSB and to ride in front of my home fans,” said Sykes.
In BSB, Sykes will meet a number of well-known names. There is hardly a national championship with such a high-calibre line-up as BSB. Defending champion Tarran Mackenzie (Yamaha) enters the 2022 season as favourite despite an injury.
In addition, with ex-Moto3 World Champion Danny Kent (Suzuki), Isle-of-Man record holder Peter Hickman (BMW) and ex-WSBK rival Leon Haslam (Kawasaki), three very well-known riders beyond the borders of Great Britain are also involved.