Japanese rider Makoto Tamada will partner Aussie Andrew Pitt in the second round of the Superbike World Championship at Portimao in Portugal on 28 March, replacing injured rookie Roland Resch, who has been declared not fit enough to ride.

Young Austrian rider Resch severely crashed in the second qualifying practice at the first WSBK round in Phillip Island, suffering a double fracture of his right collarbone in the fall. He underwent surgery in Vienna three days after his crash and had a titanium plate inserted together with eight screws.

Resch is currently working on his rehabilitation and recovery at the Dungl Medical-Vital Resort in Gars am Kamp, near Vienna, however doctors there confirmed that it would not be possible for him to race in Portimao so, instead ex-Grand Prix star and WSBK race winner Tamada will ride the second Team Reitwagen BMW S 1000 RR.

“I am grateful to Team Reitwagen BMW for giving me this opportunity to race with them in Portimao,” Tamada said. “Although this will be my first time racing a BMW, I have seen what it can do and am confident that I can ride it at its full potential.”

Team Reitwagen BMW and Tamada’s regular Team Pro Ride Superbike made an agreement this week, giving Tamada the opportunity to ride the Austrian BMW satellite team’s S 1000 RR Superbike.

Tamada will contest the Portimao round of the Superbike World Championship, also taking part in a private test at Jerez on 22-23 March and another test day at Portimao on 29 March after the WSBK race. The contract will end after that as Tamada will then go back to work with his Italian Pro Ride Superbike team.

“We are happy to welcome Makoto in our team, even if it’s just for one event only and we are happy about the perfect cooperation with his team Pro Ride Superbike,” said Andreas Werth, Reitwagen motorsport director. “Makoto is a fast racer and has proven that often, with wins in Word Superbike and MotoGP.

“With his wealth of Superbike and GP experience and capabilities, he is very worthy asset to our team and we are sure he will further help us develop and understand our bike during our private tests in Jerez. Makoto knows Jerez and Portimao very well. He is familiar with Pirelli tyres and the Superbike World Chmapionship. We are continuing our technical progress and he will help us with that. At our stage of development, every single test hour and every lap are very important to us.

“I think if Makoto gains confidence in our bike during the test session, he will be very fast in the race.”