Laverty to replace Sykes at Jerez at BMW
The British rider will not compete in the Spanish Round with Eugene Laverty taking his place at the factory BMW outfit
Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) will miss the Motul Spanish Round following the severe concussion he sustained in Barcelona with Irishman Eugene Laverty taking his spot at the Circuit de Jerez – Angel Nieto while the 2013 Champion continues his recovery. Laverty raced in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship in 2021 but has missed the last few rounds while his team undergoes an ‘internal restructuring’.
Sykes crashed at Turn 1 in Race 2 in the opening few laps of the race at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and was transported to Catalunya Hospital for further assessments where he was diagnosed with a severe concussion. Following a couple of nights under observation due to the nature of the injury, Sykes was discharged on Tuesday with his participation at Jerez to be decided.
It has now been confirmed by the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team that Eugene Laverty will take his place for the Spanish Round while Sykes focuses on his recovery in time for the Portuguese Round, which takes place just a week later. Laverty competed for the BMW Motorrad outfit in 2020, taking pole position in a wet Magny-Cours with the S 1000 RR, and took part in the first four rounds of the 2021 season as an Independent BMW rider onboard the new M 1000 RR. He will return to the factory team for the Spanish Round alongside Michael van der Mark, who moved to the team for the 2021 campaign.
Follow all the action from Jerez in comprehensive fashion using the WorldSBK VideoPass!
