Sykes re-signs with BMW Motorrad WorldSBK

The question as to who will partner Michael van der Mark in the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK team for 2021 has been answered with confirmation that Tom Sykes will retain his seat with the factory team.

World Superbike champion with Kawasaki in 2013, Sykes signed on for BMW’s return to WSBK competition in 2019, initially alongside Marcus Reiterberger, before Eugene Laverty joined the squad this year.

In his first year with BMW, Sykes achieved four podiums and a pole position. So far, in the corona-interrupted 2020 season, Sykes has secured a pole at Phillip Island – his 50th in the category – but has yet to add to his podium tally, nor record a debut win on the BMW S1000 RR.

Sykes’s best race placing this year has been a sixth, achieved in the Superpole races at Phillip Island, Jerez and Portimao. In the long-format races, Sykes’s best placing in 2020 has been a seventh at Portimao Race 2.

Marc Bongers, BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director, said: “Tom has been part of our WorldSBK Team from the very start and is an important pillar of this project. We are pleased to be able to continue along the common path in 2021, which we embarked upon with the first tests back in December 2018. This gives us continuity, which is very important for the successful development of a project.

“We have already achieved a lot together, and the goal is now to definitively close the gap to the front-runners. Tom’s extensive knowledge of the BMW S 1000 RR and his input will play a key role in achieving this.”

Confirmation of Sykes’s return in 2021 alongside new signing van der Mark means Eugene Laverty will be looking for a ride next year, although a lifeline could be thrown to the Irishman in the form of a satellite BMW team, which is being mooted for 2021. To date, Laverty has had a tough year on the S1000 RR, forced to miss part of the Phillip Island season opener due to a concussion and with a best race finish of tenth, achieved at Portimao’s Race 1 in August.

Following the completion of Round 1 at Phillip Island in March, the coronavirus has forced a shortening of the 2020 WSBK season, leaving both Sykes and Laverty fewer opportunities to achieve results for BMW Motorrad WorldSBK this year. The remaining races in the shortened, eight-round calendar will all be held in Europe, with a finale at Estoril in October.