Markus Reiterberger will not take part in the Prosecco DOC UK Round, as the German rider has been taken ill before the round. Having endured a strong season, Reiterberger is suffering from a severe flu infection and high fever and spent Wednesday night in hospital under observation.

The BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team will continue with two bikes though, as Donington Park specialist Tom Sykes will be joined by fellow British rider, Peter Hickman. Hickman rides for the Smith’s BMW Racing Team in the British Superbike Championship and has finished inside the top five of the championship in the last two years. Having won numerous TT races for BMW, he looks set to make a return to the WorldSBK grid, having finished ninth at Donington Park in 2012.

Talking ahead of the weekend, Hickman stated: “First of all, I’m sorry for Markus that he is unable to race at the weekend and I wish him a speedy recovery. At the same time, I am happy to step in and support the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team at Donington Park. I didn’t have to think long when I got the call from Shaun Muir!

“I want to thank the team for the trust and my Smiths Racing BMW team to allow me to compete in WorldSBK this weekend. And a big thanks to Dunlop UK, as I should have been racing in the French Superbike Championship for them this weekend and they enabled me to do WorldSBK instead.”

The BMW S 1000 RR has been making strong progress in 2019, with Tom Sykes delivering the team their first podium of the 2019 season in Race 1 at Misano. Now with the first podium achieved, the team will seek their first pole position and win.

“It’s quite some years ago when I did some races in this championship. But I know the BMW S 1000 RR and the track at Donington Park very well, so I am confident that I can do a proper job for the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team.”

You can follow all of the action at Donington Park this weekend with the WorldSBK VideoPass!