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 dislocated fractured finger in a nastyไ crash in FP3 which ruled him out on medical grꦡounds.

The Kawasaki Racing Team rider t🍰ipped off on his out lap in the final free practice session at the Portuguese circuit which sent his ZX-10RR up in flames while he caught his left hand in the gravel which saw him susꦫtain 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 finge🉐r with the aim of returni🦩ng to full fitness in time for the next round at Magny Cours in two weeks.

“They put the finger back in p✱lace as it was quite badly dislocated so the medical staff did a good job,” Sykes told WorldSBK.com. “But I am disappointed; disappointed with the crash as something so small led into a big crash but most 𝐆of 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. We can only do what we 🐓can do and try to make the best of the situation.”

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

“As I exited the corner the fro💛nt 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 unfortunatel♉y in that moment I got the end of the steering angle and that is what kicked the rear of the bike out.

“I tried to correct it and in the end I tried to ju🐬mp 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 lucky a🅰nd the Dainese leathers and Shark helmets did a good job and all that happened from there was the small issue 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 tomorro𓆉w morning to fix the break in the finger and try for Magny-Cours.”

With Sykes missing the Portimao opener team-mate Jonathan Rea went on to win race one com⭕f꧒ortably to open up a 95-point advantage at the top of the World Superbike riders’ championship, while Chaz Davies has moved to 15 points off of Sykes with his second place finish.

"I'm a lucky man൩" talks to Eurosport aft♋er his nasty crash

— Eurosport UK (@Eurosport_UK)