Warokorn taken to hospital following sprint race off

Thitipong Warokorn has been taken to hospital in Buriram with chest and head injuries following an incident during the World Superbike sprint race at the Thai round.

The sprint race was immediately red flagged following an incident on Lap 6 at the Turn 3 hairpin involving Warkorn, wildcarding at the Thai round, while Leon Camier was also involved in the incident.

World Superbike organisers have confirmed after being taken to the medical centre Warokorn has been transported to hospital in Buriram suffering chest injuries, head injuries and concussion.

In a statement from Camier’s Moriwaki-Althea Honda team, the British rider gave his view of the incident with Warokorn going down directly in front of him after colliding with Leandro Mercado and has passed on his best wishes to the Thai rider. Camier suffered a right knee sprain with tibial spine avulsion, forcing him to sit out the final race at the Thailand round. The British rider will undergo further medical assessments when he returns home.

“I think Warokorn hit Mercado in front of me. He went down and I literally had nowhere to go and unfortunately I hit him and crashed,” Camier said. “He seemed out in that moment, so I tried to get the race stopped immediately. I just hope he is ok. I also damaged my knee in the crash and so could not take part in Race 2.

“I need to go back to Andorra, and have it checked by my doctor, then we will see what we need to do and make a plan for my recovery. As for the race, up until that moment, I was suffering with similar issues to yesterday to be honest, so I was struggling although I was trying to do the best I could.”

Alvaro Bautista was confirmed as the winner of the red-flagged sprint race for Aruba.it Racing Ducati ahead of reigning World Superbike champion Jonathan Rea with Pata Yamaha’s Alex Lowes completing the podium.