Facing a set back into his summer plans, Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) is forced to sit out of the two day official Portimao test after he sustained an injury to his right ankle in training.

Undergoing medical checks in both the UK and in Spain, the British rider was diagnosed with a rupture of the anterior fibular talus ligament and bone delamination in the insertion of the ligament in the fibula bone. Planning to rest his ankle over the next three weeks, he will hope to be fit in time for the 10th round of the season at Autodromo Internacional do Algarve from 14th – 16th September.

Disappointed to be missing out on two important days testing, Sykes will hope to compete in both races in Portugal this season after a hand injury sustained in Saturday Warm-up ruled him out of contention last season.

“It is a shame to miss this test because we have had a big gap in the season,” explains Sykes. “I have been doing a lot of fitness training during the break and the results were very good. I was feeling very strong. But with this injury I am going to have to sit out the test, as I do now want to push it. It is a shame because Marcel and the boys had a good programme for the tests, so that we could finish the season strongly. We were going to play with the package because we would have a lot of track time to do so. The focus now is to try and be fit for the next race.”

Follow Kawasaki Racing Team’s progress in Portugal as they prepare for the test with one rider, and keep up with Sykes’ updates all with the WorldSBK VideoPass.