Factory Kawasaki's Tom Sykes is hoping that improvements made to the balance of his ZX-10R will bring results from the start of first World Superbike free practice at Imola on Friday as he bids to at least replicate his Phillip Island podium.

After the strong performance in Australia and setting the pace at the recent Motorland Aragon test, the Huddersfield man is confident he can be at the top of the timesheets right from the top of session one this weekend and continue that into the race with the improved grip and feedback from his racebike.

“We improved the bike at the recent Aragon tests particularly the front end feedback and traction, which I hope we can take onwards to Imola. To be honest I am looking forward to it partly because in the past two seasons I have gone well on the Kawasaki but I am hoping to do even better. That will be my plan for race weekend," said Sykes.

"We have changed the balance of the bike quite a lot in the past few months so a big part of me is thinking that we should be a bit better even at the start of practice. I am confident that it will work out from the start but there is always a chance that we will have an extra bit of setup work to do. I am very much looking forward to Imola, based on the results we had in Australia and in recent tests at Aragon.”