Gibernau plans to return at Barcelona

The Spaniard suffered another break to his collarbone - which had already been damaged in two 2006 crashes and in pre-season training - when he fell in practice at Le Mans last weekend.

He was flown straight to Barcelona for surgery, and was pleased to discover that the latest accident had not caused further harm to the areas affected by the 2006 injuries.

"Luckily enough the collarbone is okay," Gibernau told the official MotoGP website. "They were able to see that the collarbone has no problems from the other surgery, and the other broken part is already healed perfectly.

"We broke the collarbone in a new place. Also they can see that in the new break the screws adapted well to the collarbone."

Although he believes he could attempt to ride at Mugello last weekend, he has decided to wait until the subsequent Barcelona race before returning to action.

"Now we just have to wait until the next grand prix to be physically ready, and that's our main goal," said Gibernau.

"I'm mentally strong and I would love to come back for Mugello, but I think it's too early. Hopefully we'll have some time before Barcelona, hopefully we can get ready for that race."

Gibernau is making a MotoGP comeback this year having been on the sidelines since parting with the factory Ducati team in late 2006. Riding for the new satellite Hernando Ducati outfit, he has remained in the midfield so far but is not concerned about his current lack of results.

"The season is going okay," he said. "We knew from the beginning that this year would be difficult for us. Three years without racing and coming back after surgery and everything was going to be hard.

"But it's paying back. Every day we're a little bit stronger. The team is doing a great job. I'm really looking forward to keeping on in this direction. Hopefully one day we'll be able to demonstrate that our comeback was a good decision."