Sykes departs Puccetti, returns to BMW as injury stand-in

The 2013 world champion has endured a miserable start to his return to the series after a season away in British Superbike, scoring just a single point in last month's Assen round with a 15th-place finish.

A brief statement issued by Kawasaki billed the split as Sykes "concluding his term" with the one-bike Puccetti team, but the British rider had previously been announced as Lucas Mahias' permanent replacement for 2023.

“My team staff and sponsors were honoured to have Tom join us to start the season," commented team owner Manuel Puccetti.

"As a former world champion and multiple race winner, his insight has really taken our understanding of the Ninja [Kawasaki ZX-10RR] to the next level.

"Now he leaves us, and we thank him for all his knowledge and for sharing so much information.”

There has been no official word on who will take over Sykes' place at Puccetti for the next WSBK round at Misano in June. 

 

Sykes enjoyed a long association with the works Kawasaki team from 2010-18, winning 34 races and delivering the marque its first world title in two decades in 2013, before joining forces with BMW in 2019.

However, the Yorkshire rider was dropped for 2022 to make way for Scott Redding, leading Sykes to switch to BSB with the Paul Bird Ducati squad.

That partnership failed to bear fruit as Sykes finished a lowly 12th in the standings with a pair of wins at Donington Park, prompting him to pursue options to return to WSBK for 2023.

UPDATE: Hours after the news of Sykes splitting with Puccetti, BMW announced that the 37-year-old will replace the injured Michael van der Mark at its works team "until further notice", starting with this week's in-season test at Misano.

Van der Mark was ruled out of action after breaking his left femur in a heavy crash at Assen, and was replaced at Barcelona last weekend by Portuguese rider Ivo Lopes.

However, Sykes will now take over the ride until such a time that van der Mark is able to return, marking his return to BMW just 18 months on from his departure from the German manufacturer.

“I’m looking forward to temporarily return to the BMW Motorrad Motorsport and to the ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team,” Sykes said. “I will work hard to support them as best as possible.

"I know them from the beginning on and was involved in developing the BMW M1000RR. Now I get the opportunity to contribute again to the development process. I’m looking forward to get on the new BMW M1000RR at the Misano test [on May 11-12].

"At the same time, I wish my former team-mate Mickey [van der Mark] all the best on his way to recovery while I give everything to stand in for him in the best possible way.”