Hayden undergoes surgery, hopeful for Catalunya

As planned, former MotoGP champion Nicky Hayden underwent surgery on his right wrist in Italy on Tuesday.

Hayden had made the surgery decision after being forced to withdraw from the Italian round on Saturday, due to ongoing pain and inflammation spreading from the wrist joint to the whole hand.

It is not clear what triggered the wrist problems, which first appeared during the Spanish Grand Prix weekend at Jerez earlier this month.

According to Hayden's Drive 7 Aspar team, 'an arthroscopic cleaning procedure was carried out on his right wrist and some floating matter was removed. Nicky was also injected with an anti-inflammatory to reduce the swelling and loosen the joint.'

Surgery was carried out by Dr. Riccardo Luchetti in Morciano di Romagna, Italy, starting at 8:10am and lasting around an hour and a half.

Hayden will be discharged later today, 'then he will rest and recover, with the hope of returning next week in time for the GP of Catalunya'.