Sykes not set up for a podium finish

The 26-year-old recorded his worst finish of the season at Miller Motorsports Park but when you take into account his start to 2012, the consequences are by no means disastrous.

Heading to Utah with a lowest effort of sixth and six podiums finishes - eclipsing anything he has achieved in his previous three years in the world paddock - Sykes placed eighth then fifth.

He qualified third but struggled with his set up in race one while in race two, red flagged and restarted after a large oil spill following Hiroshi Aoyama’s crash, Sykes had to battle for his finish.

The Kawasaki Racing rider led at one stage in both races and, still sitting second in the overall standings with 142.5 points, tried not to be too critical of his performances.

“You cannot give anything away to these boys but unfortunately this weekend it looks like we did for a while,” said Sykes, who earned 19 points for his efforts in America.

“But we cannot get carried away with any thoughts like that because we are still second equal on points in the championship despite having a disappointing weekend by recent standards.

“We were much better in race two. We made a bit of a change in set-up, three changes really, and I was able to be a bit more competitive.”

Reigning champion Carlos Checa took victory in race one, his first since round two at Imola, while Marco Melandri won the restarted second race following Aoyama’s crash.

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