Jacque undergoes successful surgery

Jacques injured his forearm after he crashed during the second practice session, and was forced to pull out of the race.

The Frenchman underwent surgery this afternoon and, since no skin grafts were necessary, his chances of returning to the next race in Le Mans have improved considerably.

Jacque will return to Barcelona tomorrow to consult with his own doctors in a bid to accelerate the recovery process.

"The fact that the wound could be closed with a single operation today is good news for Olivier, because this will reduce the recovery time to the point where it could be possible for him to ride at Le Mans," said Michael Bartholemy, Kawasaki's competition manager said.

"For sure, he is motivated to come back for his home Grand Prix, and I hope that this will be the case, but we need to be sure that when he does return he does so in a condition that will allow him to race at 100%.

"For this reason we will continue to assess Olivier's recovery over the next week or so before making a decision as to whether he will ride at Le Mans or not."

Should Jacque not be fit to return to action in Le Mans, Briton Neil Hodgson is believed to be one of the favourites to stand in, as autosport.com revealed earlier today.