Tom Sykes had to sit out the Portimão round for World Superbike this past weekend, after the Kawasaki rider had a fiery crash during Saturday’s FP3 session.
The crash saw Sykes fracturing his little finger and ring finger on his left hand, and it required him to have surgery on Sunday, at the Clínica Mi Tres Torres in Barcelona.
Sykes’ recovery isn’t expected to take long, as the Doctors in Spain fitted a plate on his finger, and he could be back on his Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR race bike as early as the next round, at Magny-Cours.
The crash occurred at Turn 9 of the Portimão circuit, with the Yorkshire rider getting flung into the air and landing hard on his side, as his motorcycle caught fire and as it dragged along the ground.
“I have had an operation and the doctor seems to be happy with how it went,” explained Sykes. “Obviously it was a nasty break and basically snapped the little finger clean in half, so it was more than a dislocation and he found a couple of other things in the hand as well – a crack in the finger next to it and a crack on the radius on the wrist.”
“I have had that injury before and raced with it four days later in Australia, so I have been able to race with a broken wrist before. We will see what happens from now on, and see how the fingers get on in the next few days.”
Source: Kawasaki Racing Team; Photos: © 2017 Jensen Beeler / Asphalt & Rubber – Creative Commons – Attribution 3.0
