Talking to Tom Sykes you quickly find that he’s not the kind of rider who touts his own talent or makes overblown claims. In fact he’s quite the opposite. If anything the likeable Brit plays down his own abilities, preferring instead to let his performance on the track do the talking.

His first two seasons in World Superbike were tough on this quietly determined rider. At Yamaha in 2009 he was overshadowed by the once-in-a-lifetime performance of Ben Spies. Unlike Spies, Sykes was not able to surround himself with crew members he knew and was comfortable with and while he does not like to make excuses, you can tell Sykes was envious of Spies having trusted crew in Tom Houseworth and Greg ‘Woody” Wood at his side.

Then last year Sykes was saddled with an uncompetitive motorcycle, yet in spite of the disadvantage he came through with some exceptional World Superbike results, including a stunning fourth in leg two at Imola. Kawasaki rewarded Sykes for his efforts by bringing him back as part of the factory-backed Paul Bird Kawasaki team, along with veteran Chris Vermeulen and rookie Joan Lascorz.

While it’s difficult to get him to admit it, under the surface you get the sense that Sykes is incredibly optimistic about 2011. The newest generation Kawasaki ZX-10R, even very early in its development, appears to be a highly competitive racing machine. Sykes turned in the fourth fastest time at the pre-season test in Portimao. Even with such a strong result from a brand new package Sykes remains only cautiously optimistic, not wanting to overshoot expectations.

In a Rider Files exclusive we talked with Sykes about the coming World Superbike season and what we might expect out of him and the new Kawasaki.

Sykes on 2011

Tom Sykes Exclusive Interview with The Rider Files