Tom Sykes went into the final Round of the 2016 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship knowing that catching Jonathan Rea in the overall points standing would be a difficult task. The Kawasaki rider trailed the new Champion by 48 points heading into the Round and needed to come away with a win if he wanted any chance at keeping the title-fight alive.

Sykes struggled on Friday at Losail finishing the evening ninth overall. Then in the Tissot-Superpole 2 session on Saturday night, he qualified in an uncharacteristic fifth place. His championship-chase campaign wasn’t off to a great start and in the race he fared no better. He fought to stay in sight of the leading trio and battled with both Sylvain Guintoli and Nicky Hayden to maintain it. In the final lap it seemed that he recovered his usual fast pace when he finally overtook Hayden for fourth.

“I’m disappointed with finishing fourth today but tomorrow is another day and I’ll try my best,” admitted Sykes. “I’ll leave it all on the track and hopefully it’ll enough tomorrow.  But I have a great team behind me and runner up for me is a lot better than third. The result has me with mixed emotions today, and the day hasn’t gone to plan. We have had a steady season but just right now we’ve struggled. We’ve struggled with a couple of things, which made the race difficult today.”

The Yorkshireman accepted his defeat as graciously as one could saying, “Credit to Rea, he’s put two strong seasons together and credit to Kawasaki for putting together championship-winning bikes for us. He’s been very consistent all year and I’m a bit envious for that but on the other hand, I have been fairly consistent too over the year and at the end of the day I also have one Championship, which is one more than most guys and I have to be grateful for that.”