BMW's Tom Sykes is banking on engine upgrades at the Aragon WorldSBK round which he hopes will carry the S1000RR into contention for the podium.

During a tough weekend in Thailand - where his underpowered steed suffered on the two long straights - Sykes managed a tenth in the shortened sprint race but was forced out Sunday's second clash with a slipping clutch.

“After a couple of laps I felt that something was wrong. It’s a bit frustrating because we had made a change to the bike and it really felt good," said the Huddersfield man.

On the positive side I’m really surprised to come here to this race circuit and to be inside the top ten with our disadvantage on the straight. So to be inside the top ten is really promising in my opinion.

"Honestly, in the approach and entry of many corners, the chassis and the set-up on the BMW S 1000 RR is really an advantage compared to our competition. So overall there are quite a lot of positives for me to take.

"The negative is obviously, as we saw in Phillip Island, that we are giving a lot away on the straights but hopefully that won’t be a problem anymore in the not so distant future.”