Injured Jonathan Rea lamented his luck after the six-time World Superbike Champion injured his hand in a spill in Saturday’s opening race at Magny-Cours in France.
The Pata Prometeon Yamaha rider and Italy’s Nicolo Bulega crashed simultaneously at the chicane at the final corner on the first lap.
Rea, seventh at the time, was taken to a specialist hand hospital for treatment of a deep laceration on his right thumb and a suspected fracture.
The 37-year-old began the race from eighth place on row three and had been hoping to start the final run of races with a positive result as the 2024 season reaches a climax.
Rea, who has won a record nine times at Magny-Cours, is now facing a late decision over his participation on Sunday.
The Ulsterman has struggled in the 2024 season after leaving Kawasaki to replace Toprak Razgatlioglu at Yamaha.
Razgatlioglu was ruled out following a crash on Friday when he suffered a collapsed lung in a crash in the afternoon practice session.
The BMW rider had won 13 races in a row to set a new record coming into the Eighth Round and is aiming to return for the forthcoming round at Cremona in Italy to resume his bid for a second World title.
His team-mate, Michael van der Mark, won Saturday’s race, which was hit by heavy rain after starting on a drying track.
For Rea, it was another disappointing afternoon for the beleaguered Yamaha rider.
“It was not the day I planned,” he admitted. “I felt there was a good opportunity for us when we were on the grid, and I was pretty clear with my slick tyre choice.
“Not a great start, but I was making progress in lap one and going into the last chicane, Bulega was a bit off-line and went down, so I just tried to avoid him on the switch-back, but I just got a wet patch or a bit off-line and I was down as well.
“Unfortunately, my hand got stuck under the handlebar, and on my thumb joint, the tarmac ground away the skin and it is really not very nice to look at.
“As soon as I saw it and felt the throbbing, I knew something wasn’t right, and I ran directly to the medical centre by the last corner.
“Really frustrating, I was hoping to bring everyone some good news from the race today, but unfortunately, there is still a black cloud following us around at the moment.”
Behind Van der Mark, reigning Champion Alvaro Bautista finished second after starting from 17th, while third place went to Danilo Petrucci on the Barni Ducati.
The Superpole race on Sunday is at 10.00am BST, with the second full-length race scheduled for 2.30pm BST.
Meanwhile, Ballynahinch’s Korie McGreevy clinched a Superbike double yesterday at the ‘Big 3 Series’ Ulster Superbike meeting at Kirkistown.
McGreevy also won both Supersport races for the Cookstown-based McAdoo Kawasaki team, but the result of the first race was later declared void because of an issue with the starting lights.
McGreevy received the Crown Prince of Kirkistown accolade for his Supersport exploits, but it was Carrickfergus rider Ross Irwin who secured the King of Kirkistown Superbike title following his two runner-up finishes behind McGreevy, with Irwin topping the final points classification after the Third Round of the Belfast and District Club’s series.
Lisburn’s Jonny Campbell, who leads the Ulster Superbike Championship, was third in both races.
Elsewhere, the Scarborough Gold Cup meeting concludes on Sunday at Oliver’s Mount, where Cookstown’s Gary McCoy will be gunning for victory.
McCoy made a strong start to the event with a win in the Supersport class on Saturday.