Tom Sykes returns to BMW for final WorldSBK outing in Indonesia
2013 WorldSBK Champion Tom Sykes will get a final WorldSBK outing in Mandalika with BMW before an expected switch to BSB for 2022
Tom Sykes has confirmed he will be present for the final round of the 2021 WorldSBK Championship in what is set to be his swansong outing in the series he won back in 2013.
The British rider skipped the previous three rounds in Jerez, Portimao and San Juan Villicum after sustaining concussion in an accident during the final race of the Catalunya WorldSBK weekend in Spain.
Having already confirmed he will be exiting WorldSBK at the end of the season after being ousted from his factory BMW Motorrad WorldSBK seat by Scott Redding, it was unclear whether Sykes would get a final outing with the manufacturer at Mandalika.
BMW has now confirmed he will be present in Indonesia alongside Michael van der Mark, with Sykes keen to bow out on a high before an expected switch to the British Superbike Championship in 2022.
“I’m very much looking forward to getting back on my BMW M 1000 RR. It has been a long time since I last raced and obviously we have a little bit of work to do to catch up.
“But having said that, I have to say that the excitement of going to a totally new venue is quite something, not only because Indonesia is a great part of the world. Everybody looks to be doing an incredible job on the new circuit of Mandalika.
“What a unique venue – to say the least. On top of that, it is located on a beautiful island so I am really looking forward to it.
“It is new for everybody and I have to say that it is going to be a little bit of a way to finish the season, but that’s another story. In general, it’s a great place to finish the season, and hopefully we can finish it with some strong results to end 2021.”
The Briton has been a mainstay of the WorldSBK Championship since 2009 when he made his debut with Yamaha, before switching to Kawasaki in 2010 for the start of a successful partnership lasting nine seasons that yielded 34 wins, 48 pole positions and the 2013 WorldSBK Championship outright.
Sykes has been strongly linked with joining the Paul Bird Motorsport-run VisionTrack Ducati team in 2022, though rumours of a switch to McAMS Yamaha have also been mooted.
