de Puniet has surgery, targets Brno return

Randy de Puniet is hopeful that he will be absent for just one MotoGP event as he begins the recovery process from a broken tibia and fibula.

The Frenchman fell from his LCR Honda during the German Grand Prix, de Puniet proceeding to be clipped by Pramac Ducati's Mika Kallio at considerable speed.

Later confirmed as having broken his leg, de Puniet successfully underwent surgery a day after the race and has been given a time scale of around six weeks to recover.

Luckily for him, the impending summer break could ensure that he misses just a single race - this weekend's United States Grand Prix - before returning to action in the Czech Republic.

"As riders we always risk crashing and breaking something, but it's always when you are not thinking about crashing that you do. After the crash when Kalio involuntarily hit my leg I immediately understood that I had a serious problem.

"The surgery went very well and now I am feeling better. I want to thank Doctor Costa and all the medical staff here for the good job they did. They say that I need 6 weeks recovery period to start racing again but I will try my best to be back in Brno."

de Puniet will be replaced by Roger Lee Hayden for the Laguna Seca race.