Tom Sykes has expressed his disappointment at having to miss the rest of this weekend’s Portuguese World Superbike round after breaking a finger in a fiery crash in third practice.
The Yorkshireman was on his out-lap at the beginning of Saturday morning’s third practice session when he crashed exiting Turn 8.
His Kawasaki ZX-10RR burst into flames as it skidded along the circuit, while an awkward landing left Sykes with a fractured dislocation of the little finger on his left hand.
Having had the dislocation reset, the painkilling medication he was prescribed meant he was declared unfit to contest qualifying and the first race, and will sit out Sunday’s action too.
With just 35 points between himself and Chaz Davies in the battle for second in the standings ahead of the first race – a gap which was reduced to 15 after the opening encounter – Sykes was keen to ride in order to keep his runner-up spot secure.
“No operaion yet. They put the finger back in place; it was quite badly dislocated,” he explained.
“The Portuguese staff did a good job to put that back in place. But, yeah, obviously disappointed, disappointed with the crash; something so small led into such a big crash.
“Most of all, just a shame the medication I had in the medical centre means I can’t race this weekend, which, again, is a massive shame because I would have liked to ride with just localised painkilling injection just to keep the points coming in.
“But that’s not to be and, like I said, really disappointed for this.”
Sykes said the crash occurred when the front tyre locked as it touched the ground after he exited Turn 8, and was ejected from his Kawasaki in his attempts to save the crash.
Twitter: Spectacular crash for @TheRealTomSykes in today’s opening session!
Watch!#PORWorldSBK
https://t.co/YeWKxpsgLG https://t.co/kdzOwBMOGy (@WorldSBK)
“As I exited the corner the front wheel came off the ground only a little bit, so when it retouched I’d gained a lot of speed and the front tyre just locked a little bit on the tarmac, which just set the bike unstable,” he said.
“Unfortunately, in that moment I managed to get to the lock stop of the steering angle and that’s what kicked the rear of the bike out.
“I tried to correct it. In the end I tried to jump off the left side, but no chance, and unfortunately I went over the top, then the bike hit me and I caught my hand in the gravel.
“Awkward crash, definitely beat me around.”
The Yorkshireman praised the protection his safety equipment gave him, especially when part of his leathers ignited as the bike caught fire.
Scheduled to have an operation on his finger on Sunday, Sykes hopes to be fit enough to race at Magny-Cours in two weeks’ time.
“Yeah, (the burns are) not too bad.
“I was stuck there with the bike for a while, plus going down the tarmac… yeah, things got a little bit hot but I’m lucky.
“Dainese leathers, Shark helmet did the job and all that happened there was an issue with the small finger, so credit to those guys.
“We’re going for an operation tomorrow morning just to try and fix the breaks in the finger, and then (we will) try for Magny-Cours.”
