Peter Hickman and the RAF Reserves BMW were ruled out of Monday’s British Superbike Championship third round at Oulton Park after the Louth-based rider sustained rib injuries in a crash during Saturday afternoon’s free practice session.

After an extremely positive test at the Cheshire venue just over a week ago, hopes were high coming into the third round and that’s exactly how it started on Saturday morning when the 27-year old placed a strong eighth in the opening 50-minute free practice session. Conditions were dry then but later that afternoon, the rain fell and Hicky was one of a number of riders to fall foul to the weather.

Peter went down heavily on the approach to Druids, sustaining two broken ribs and the Championship’s medical team declared him unfit to ride for the rest of the weekend meaning he missed both of Monday’s 18-lap races.

He now faces a period of convalescence and, amongst a number of things, will visit the hyperbaric chamber in a bid to quicken up the healing process.

Peter Hickman:

“Everything had been going really well for me and I did nothing different to what I had done the previous lap so it was a very strange crash. I lost the front in a very unusual place and it went without warning and at a very high speed. I had no chance to slow down and had a very hard impact with the barrier. It was a tough crash and a hard crash but whilst I’m obviously feeling stiff and sore, I’m feeling a lot better than I thought. I’m just gutted for the team and all the sponsors that we’re not going to get the opportunity to show what we can do in the two races.”

After further investigation at Leighton Hospital it was discovered that Hicky has two breaks of the C4 vertebrae in his neck meaning will be unable to participate in the North West 200, the first International road race of the season, which gets underway on Tuesday 12th May.

The Louth-based rider enjoyed an excellent debut at the event 12 months ago, comfortably being the best performing newcomer and also recording the fastest ever lap by a circuit debutante and he is bitterly disappointed at being unable to return.

However, the nature of his injuries mean it simply isn’t possible to ride and the aim now is to be fully fit for the Isle of Man TT Races which commence on Saturday May 30th.

Lee Hardy, Team Owner:

“It’s deeply disappointing for Peter and everyone connected with the team that we’ll be unable to take part in the North West 200 but his injuries from the crash on Saturday are a little bit worse than we first thought.

“The goal now is to support Peter as best as we can and ensure he gets the best possible medical support with the aim of being ready for the TT. He needs to get as much rest and recuperation as he can and the final decision will ultimately lie with his surgeon but we’re very hopeful of being ready for practice week at the Isle of Man. I’d also like to thank the on-site medical team at Oulton Park for all their excellent treatment and support given to Peter after his accident.”

Mervyn Whyte, Event Director of the North West 200:

“It’s obviously disappointing that Peter’s not able to come to the North West 200 this year but his health and well-being has to come first and no-one wants his injuries to develop into anything worse. With him being the best newcomer in 2014, we were all very much looking forward to him returning as I have no doubt he would have made an even bigger impression this time around. These things happen in racing though and he’s young enough to return to the event for many years to come so we’ll look forward to welcoming him back in 2016.”