Tom Sykes says he would have attempted to race at Portimao had it not been for the medication he was given immediately after sustaining a dislocatꦆed fractured finger in a nasty crash in FP3 which ruled him out on medical groundꦏs.

The Kawasaki Racing Team rider tipped off on his out lap in the final free practice session at the Portuguese circuit wh✅ich sent his ZX-10RR up in flames while he caught his left hand in the gravel which saw him sustain the dislocated fractured little finger.

Despite the finger being put back in at the track’s medical centre he was declared unfit to 🃏race, while the British rider will now fly to Barcelona for an operation on the fractured finger with the aim of returning to full fitness in time for the next round a൩t Magny Cours in two weeks.

“They put the finger back in place as it was quite badly dislocated so the medical staff did a good job,” Sykes told WorldSBK.com. “But I am disappointed; disappointed with t𝓀he crash as something so small led into a big crash but most of all it is a shame that the medication I had in the medical centre means I can’t race this weekend.

“It is a massive shame because I would have liked to have tried to ride with just localised pain-killing injections to try to keep the points coming in but that is not to be. 𒅌We can only do what we can do and try to make the best of the situation.”

Sykes says the cause of the crash was hꦛis front tyre jumping up off the tarmac on the exit of turn eight and on the downhill drive to turn nine balked his rhythm when it toucheওd back down and sent him into a massive crash.

“As I exited the corner the front wheel came off of the ground, only by a little bit, but when it touched back down I had gained a lot of speed so the front tyre baulked a little bit on the tarmac,” he said. “That sent the bike unstable but unfortunately in that moment I got the end of the steering angle and that is what kicked the ওrear of the bike out.

“I tried to correct it and i💃n the end I tried to jump off of the left-hand side of the bike but 🤡there was no chance. Unfortunately I went over the top and the bike hit me and I caught my hand in the gravel. It was an awkward crash and it beat me around.

“The burns are not too bad despite being stuck with the bike for a while going down the tarmac so things got a bit hot. But I’m luck💞y and the Dainese leathers and Shark helmets did a good job and all that happened from there was the small i﷽ssue with the finger so credit to those guys.

“The plan is to be back for Magny Cours, I’ll fly to Barcelona for an operation tomorrow morniꦇng to fix the break in the finger and try for Magny-Cours.”

With Sykes missing the Portimao opener 𒈔team-mate Jonathan Rea went on to win race one comfortably to open up a 95-point advantage at the top of the World Supe🌠rbike riders’ championship, while Chaz Davies has moved to 15 points off of Sykes with his second place finish.

"I'm a 🧸lucky man🅘" talks to Eurosport after his nasty crash

— Eurosport UK (@Eurosport_UK)