Factory Yamaha World Superbike rider Tom Sykes has experienced the melee of a World Superbike first-turn scramble and says it's not easy, especially if you go off line.

The Huddersfield youngster got a pair of solid, point-scoring positions with two 10-place finishes and says he is happy with the bike, especially as he was lapping as fast as team-mate, and winner, Ben Spies in race two.

“It’s not easy in the first couple of turns with the whole pack! I got off line going in to turn one in the first race and got pushed wide, there were people everywhere," said Sykes.

"Then going into the Honda hairpin, I was just going underneath Xaus and someone came up the inside and took him out and that pushed me back. The incident lost me three or four seconds, I couldn’t believe it, I guess that’s the nature of Phillip Island!

"The most positive thing for me was that we made changes with the bike this morning and found a really good setting so I know now I can run race pace and keep at the sharp end, the bike is awesome, especially down the start finish straight.

"Because the bike was working so well I felt really fresh and able to keep pushing on, I was sure I could get to eighth but I ran out of time. The second race was much of the same, a frustrating start for me, dropping back to 19th place initially, but I got my head down and stuck to my pace and worked back up, taking nine places to finish tenth.

"I was forced to overuse the tires for the first few laps which meant my race distance suffered a bit. On a positive note I know I’m capable of running consistent times for the front of the pack.”