Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes has blamed Jonathan Rea’s WorldSBK crew chief Pere Riba for internal friction in the team.

Relations between Sykes and Rea, which have never been much to write home about, plummeted after their collision at Brno but Sykes says the problems go back to before Rea came into the squad.

“It’s strange really. The history goes back a long way. Not between me and Jonathan but also my team-mates at Kawasaki which is a shame. I had a great relationship with Joan Lascorz and Loris Baz starting out,” said Sykes, speaking to Eurosport’s Charlie ‘Brundle’ Hiscott.

“I put it down to one man, Pere Riba. It’s the way he goes about his business, it’s terrible and unforuntately he cannot be tamed in this environment and it’s a shame because there’s no need for it, it’s a team at the end of the day.”