In his sport, he needs to study a bit of form (8)
I believe the answer is:
toreador
'in his sport he' is the definition.
The answer is a person as well as being a singular noun. This is suggested by the definition.
'to study a bit of form' is the wordplay.
'study' becomes 'read' ('read' can be a synonym of 'study').
'a bit of form' becomes 'or' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'to'+'read'+'or'='TOREADOR'
'needs' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for toreador that I've seen before include "Too drear for a bullfighter" , "Man honoured to be given an ear" , "Mounted bullfighter" , "A bullfighter, especially on horseback" , "Killer facing charges" .)