Following a severe lap one crash involving Tom Sykes, Michael Ruben Rinaldi and Loris Baz the last race of this weekend’s WorldSBK event at Donington Park has been red flagged.
Three riders were involved in a crash that forced a stoppage of the second World Superbike Championship race at Donington Park on the first lap.
Alvaro Bautista had already lost the lead to Toprak Razgatlioglu despite having taken the holeshot when a significant crash involving Tom Sykes, Michael Ruben Rinaldi, and Loris Baz occurred at turn eight.
Sykes lost control of his BMW M 1000 RR’s rear end and was thrown into a massive high-side triggering the crash which happened at the top of the track at the second apex of Coppice going into the back straight.
His spiraling BMW appears to have been subsequently picked up by Rinaldi’s closely trailing Ducati, with Baz later being involved in the incident.
When the race was immediately stopped and Sykes was found face down on the ground, marshals had to lift him to see if he was still conscious.
A throng of marshals and medical crews were then gathered around Rinaldi as TV footage a few minutes later showed Sykes on his knees with his helmet off, despite being in obvious distress.
While Baz appearing unharmed, a race direction communication indicated that all three riders were conscious, with Rinaldi and Sykes being sent to the hospital for examinations.
The riders were taken to the hospital and the stewards cleared the track after immediately suspending the race and promising a restart with one less lap. Following the incident, the ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK team later tweeted an update from medical guidance:
