LCR preparing Crutchlow's bikes for Friday

The LCR Honda team are preparing for what they hope will be Cal Crutchlow's return to action at this weekend's Andalucia MotoGP.

A warm-up fall forced Crutchlow to miss Sunday's opening Jerez race and he underwent surgery in Barcelona on Tuesday, when a small screw was inserted to fix a fracture to his left scaphoid (wrist) bone.

Of the three MotoGP riders currently injured - Crutchlow, Marc Marquez and Alex Rins - the Englishman has the best chance of being passed fit to ride in round two.

LCR team manager Lucio Cecchinello confirmed that the team are preparing Crutchlow's bikes to be ready for Friday practice.

“I would like to thank Dr. Mir and his medical team for performing surgery on Cal’s left wrist this morning," Cecchinello said.

"A small screw has been inserted into his scaphoid to fix the fracture. The surgery went well as Dr. Mir personally informed me, and Cal will be discharged from the hospital later this [Tueday] afternoon.

"If everything goes well, we expect him back at the Angel Nieto Circuit in Jerez on Thursday morning, where he will be visited by Dorna’s Medical Director, Dr. Ángel Charte who will assess his fitness to race.

"Our technical staff is working to have everything ready to allow Cal to ride in Friday’s morning practice.”

Marquez - who also had an operation in Barcelona today, to plate his fractured right arm - will miss this weekend while a question mark hangs over the fitness of Rins, who dislocated his shoulder in Saturday's qualifying session.

Crutchlow's team-mate Takaaki Nakagami finished tenth in the Jerez race, on the 2019-spec RC213V.