Sykes to stick with Kawasaki until 2018

The 30-year-old Briton has been racing with Kawasaki since 2010 and has not finished lower than third in the standings in the past four years.

After the arrival of Jonathan Rea, who comfortably beat him to the title last year and is in prime position to repeat this year, rumours suggested Sykes was looking to join another works team, such as Ducati or Yamaha.

However, Sykes decided to extend his contract by further two years to stay with Kawasaki until 2018.

"I am really excited to have made a further commitment with KRT and KHI," said Sykes.

"It’s a great feeling to be back with such a great team for another two years. We have already shown the capabilities of the latest model Ninja ZX-10R this season and there is a lot of potential still to come from the bike.

"I would like to thank KHI for showing their continued commitment to me as a rider. As well as the bike and the on-track performance, I have been part of the Kawasaki family for seven years so it was really natural to continue that relationship.

"To carry on working with my dedicated crew - Marcel, Danilo, Mattia, Raul, Tambu and Ruben and all my other valued colleagues and friends in the team - was priceless as they are widely recognised as the pick of the crop in the WorldSBK paddock."

"Tom signing for two more years with Kawasaki is a very nice point to continue our project from, while also developing the latest Ninja ZX-10R until 2018," added KRT team boss Guim Roda.

"This is a part of Kawasaki’s strategy - to have two top riders inside the KRT project - and now we can say proudly that we still have the two best riders in the WorldSBK championship.

"It has been a longer negotiation with Tom because he has been with Kawasaki for seven years - two with PBM and five with KRT - and there’s always some private and personal points we have to respect when a rider thinks about taking such a important decision.

"Tom always said from the beginning his first wish was to continue in the Kawasaki family, so we are happy he can trust in the new ZX-10R and KRT staff to get what he expects. I personally think that the best of Tom Sykes is yet to come."

Sykes is currently second in the championship, 66 points behind Rea.