Edwards tipped for quick recovery

Edwards crashed during Friday afternoon practice at Catalunya, and had a plate and seven screws inserted on the injured bone in an operation in Barcelona's Dexeus Institute Hospital, carried out by specialist surgeons Dr Xavier Mir and Dr Victor Marlet.

"Colin had his operation this morning in Barcelona and I am pleased to report that it was a routine procedure and everything went very well," said Poncharal.

"Although he was in quite a lot of pain yesterday, the only positive is that the injury was a clean break without any complications, so we are confident the recovery will be a quick process and we will see Colin back on track very soon.

"We are still obviously very sorry for what happened to Colin but he is already back to being the Colin we know and love, laughing and joking with staff at the hospital."

Edwards is expected to remain in hospital under observation for a further 24 to 48 hours.

His team-mate Cal Crutchlow qualified the remaining Tech 3 bike sixth on the grid for tomorrow's race in Spain.