Rea "was thrown a lifeline" by Lausitz rain - Sykes

After retiring in Race 2 at Laguna Seca, Rea also failed to finish the first Lausitzring race due to downshifting problems.

His two non-scores saw his championship lead shrink significantly but the Northern Irishman recovered with a dominant win in the rain.

Sykes, whose streak of seven top-two finishes came to an end after a Lap 1 crash, said Rea might not have been able to win in the dry.

"I feel, just my opinion, in the wet Jonathan was thrown a little bit more of a lifeline because obviously the speed from Chaz [Davies] and other riders from Race 1 was quite good," said the 2013 champion.

"In the wet there is no mistake he had a great feeling and obviously he used that to his full advantage."

Following his retirement, Sykes is confident his dry-race pace is good enough to fight back.

"[My race was] very disappointing, generally speaking this is dry-weather racing and this is where you kind of ride the best way with your package.

"In the wet it's a bit more of a gamble, a lot more happens, the general frontrunners not finishing at the front is more possible.

"All we need to do is remember where we were [Saturday] and in the last dry races at Laguna Seca and everything is on the edge so I feel confident we can come back strong in the dry.

"If it is wet, there is a slightly other direction I want to try with the set-up.

"I won before in wet with this bike it's just, unfortunately, over the last few months we've not nailed it.

"That's a big shame and it has not helped in the championship but the good thing is the points gap is considerably less than it was three races ago."

Rea is currently leading the championship by 47 points with six races to go.