Although a world champion may never be quite satisfied with anything less than winning Tom Sykes can at least be pleased to have notched up not just his first but his second WorldSBK podiums on the new BMW M1000RR - wings and all - at a circuit he used to be almost unbeatable at.

He was happy to be at the sharp end again, and was best BMW rider in both races on Sunday, “First and foremost, I think the dual podium today is fantastic, not only just for me but also for the team in the Superpole race,” Sykes told bikesportnews.com.

“It’s great. In the wet conditions, from the beginning we had a good test. Came here, felt strong in the wet, felt strong in the dry. Gone back to basics, with the exception of the M1000RR engine, so that definitely helped today. Basically we went with a rear tyre, the soft one, the SCX. Just after yesterday’s result with Toprak - normally they say if you can’t beat them, join them.

"So, we took a bit of a chance with that. Honestly, my feeling is I wish I probably hadn’t done because I was really suffering in the fast sections for holding the line, etc. Just struggled. But, we dug deep and played around a little bit with the electronics setup of the bike, trying to find a little bit here and a little bit there. We did enough. Obviously, I didn’t have the speed of the two guys in front.

"The Yamahas were really hooking up really quite well. I suffered with edge grip, rear grip. The bike has some really good qualities in other areas. So, I just kind of banked on those and tried my best with those, and it was enough.”

Scott Redding on his official Ducati was a little close to Sykes’ tail near the end, but the V4R rider tried too hard to bridge a gap that Sykes did well to maintain, and Sykes took third place to add to his second in the sprint race.

“Scott was putting some serious pressure, but I kind of did the most I could,” said Sykes. “I kept my nose clean and in the end it was enough. So, really, really happy for the whole for the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK team. They deserve this equally as much as what I do. We’ve worked very hard, considering how new the bike is.”

Sykes said that the bike has not suffered from a lack of testing.

“Not lack of testing, but the testing restriction,” said Sykes. “We just always try and develop and find a race setting for a race weekend against some very experienced manufacturers. So, credit to everyone involved. Hopefully we can keep this going now, especially going into Assen. Old ‘Magic Mikey’ enjoys that circuit. Michael, I expect him to be strong there. Hopefully we can just keep that momentum going.”

When asked about where his bike was working best at Donington, Sykes said, “To be honest, I’m not looking too much into it. Here I go well because there’s a lot of different sectors on the track. But, we certainly still need to improve. The only thing is we’re behind some of the guys in the fast sectors and we’re behind some of the guys in the slow sectors. My hope is that we can bring all of those up.

"It’s just that over a lap I think we’re quite good. Physically as well, despite a lot of input needed around here, whether I’m right or whether I’m wrong, I believe physically I can have a lot of input on the bike. Physically and possibly a little bit my weight. I don't know, but I always feel comfortable in the fast sectors here. So, from that side, we still need to improve but for this weekend I think we’ve come away with a good set of results considering where we were last time out in Misano.”

The question now to move things on further seems to be is Sykes expecting any more testing and any more parts coming soon? “I’ve still got some days remaining, so I expect more testing. I definitely expect more parts. Like I said, we’re still learning, we’re still developing as a team together with the bike. We’ve still got a gap to close. Today is just for me a good confidence boost for the guys, a good pat on the back because they work really, really hard.

"Obviously, I’m very grateful for all their work, also on Friday. The way they could repair the bike and get me back out on track is unbelievable. So, we’ll try and enjoy this moment. Like you said, in due course, the plan is to go testing. The plan is to keep developing.”