Former World Superbike Champion Tom Sykes will use the rest of the 2015 season as a testing programme in readiness for next year as team-mate Jonathan Rea now needs only six points more than Chaz Davies at Jerez to wrap up the title.

Sykes has struggled with the switch to all-new rules this year and has had to watch as Rea had swept all before him but the Huddersfield man has already turned his attentions to 2016.

“The title is definitely gone. I think Jonathan can stay at home and drink some tea for the remaining races: he is in a very fortunate position! But we need to use the last three remaining rounds Spain, France and Qatar as a testing programme for next year in order to try and make our life easier. Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough testing time during the year to solve our problems and it is difficult to do so during the racing weekends,” said Sykes.

“Second place in the standings would be good. This would mean I would have finished in the top two for the fourth year in a row and that is definitely not something to be embarrassed about. When you’re at the top of your game, you always want to win.”