News 18 Sep 2017

Sykes undergoes succesful surgery on finger injury

WorldSBK front-runner suffers multiple injuries in Portugal.

Source: Supplied.

Kawasaki Racing Team’s Tom Sykes has undergone successful surgery on the little finger of his left hand after suffering a crash during Saturday’s free practice session at Portimao’s 10th round of the Motul FIM World Superbike (WorldSBK) Championship in Portugal over the weekend.

Along with the fracture in his little finger, he also sustained fractures to his fourth finger and wrist in the same hand, and was immediately operated on the following day after the incident.

“I have had an operation and the doctor seems to be happy with how it went,” said 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.”

It’s unclear whether the former WorldSBK champion will be sidelined for France’s 11th round in just under two weeks time, with a further evaluation closer to the event determining his entry.

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