Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes cut team-mate Jonathan Rea’s lead at the top of the World Superbike table by eight points at Laguna Seca and hopes to carry his momentum into this weekend’s Sepang clash.

Sykes is still some 125 behind the Castletown resident and needs to beat Rea in order to stop him lifting the title in Malaysia. If the Irishman leaves Sepang with 151 points, he will be crowned champion as there will be only 150 left in the the remaining three rounds.

“Sepang has a great layout and I enjoy the weather conditions. It is something completely different and quite challenging - but it is nice. We had a great feeling there last year and I think we can build on that,” said Sykes.

“We are gradually getting a better feeling with the bike this year under the new regulations we have. I hope we can continue that momentum from Laguna forward. Sepang is really wide, open and your references are not as clear as they would on most tracks.

“Because you have so much circuit to play with you have a lot of tarmac to use and that is when you get the lap times. Sometimes all of that tarmac sucks you in and you feel you need to use it all. In some areas you are best of keeping to tight and not using all of the track. It is really quite technical.”