Crutchlow pleased with surgery outcome

The British rider, who has moved from Yamaha's World Superbike team to the Tech 3 Yamaha MotoGP squad, had an operation on a lingering injury in Manchester last week.

"I crashed at the end of 2009 and ripped the reverse bankart at the back of the shoulder - it was very similar to what Valentino [Rossi] had," Crutchlow told the official MotoGP website.

"Because I rode on it all year it really wore the shoulder joint so when they opened it, it was worse than expected.

"They did the best job possible and have said I should make a full recovery. I should make it by February for the Sepang test. Everyone was pleased with the outcome of the operation."

Crutchlow currently has his arm in a sling, but is able to continue with physiotherapy.

"The arm is good when I take the sling off, and I can do almost everything," he said. "The range of movement already is nearly full, it's just that the muscle is still a little bit sore, as you would expect."

He will spend two weeks cycling in California early in the new year, and aims to ride a motorcycle again a fortnight before testing commences at Sepang on 1 February.

"Once I get back in mid-January I'll hopefully go out on some sort of motorbike and ride, making sure I can brake and withstand the force and things like that," said Crutchlow.

"The surgeon, the physiotherapist, everybody says there's no reason I shouldn't be riding in Sepang and I should be up to full fitness by then."