Randy de Puniet incurred a successful two hour surgery on his left leg to insert a titanium rod, after fracturing his left tibia and fibula in a crash recently at Sachsenring.

The operation was done at a hospital in Hartmannsdorf where De Puniet was flown by helicopter from the track. LCR Honda have announced the surgery was positive, and De Puniet will exit the hospital tomorrow (Tuesday, July 20th) to commence rehabilitation.

“As riders we always risk crashing and breaking something, but it’s always when you are not thinking about crashing that you do,” says De Puniet. “When Kallio accidentally hit my leg after I crashed I immediately knew I had a serious problem. However, the surgery went very well and now I am feeling better. I want to thank Doctor Costa and all the medical staff here for the good job they did. They say that I need a six-week recovery period before starting to race again, but I will try my best to be back in Brno (August 15th).”

LCR Honda have officially confirmed that Roger Lee Hayden, younger sibling of 2006 MotoGP World Champion Nicky, will race the squad’s satellite RC212V at the Red Bull US Grand Prix this weekend. The agreement facilitated by American Honda, allows Roger Lee Hayden to compete in his second MotoGP event at the track after having raced there to arrive in seventh place in 2007 on a Kawasaki.

LCR Honda Team Manager Lucio Cecchinello comments, “I was a rider and injured myself several times so I understand Randy’s condition and how he feels. I am still here with him at the hospital and Doctor Costa and Doctor Ulf are very confident about his recovery. He is a tough rider and I am sure he will be back soon.”

“After yesterday’s bad news we had a meeting with Randy and Honda to take a decision for the following race,” continued Cecchinello. “Despite this unfortunate experience we decided to go on with our job and we agreed to replace Randy for the US GP. Thanks to the cooperation from Nicky Hayden and Kevin Schwantz, we went for the best choice: Roger Lee Hayden. He has plenty of experience at Laguna Seca and we will do our best to support him.”

Roger Lee Hayden adds, “First of all I want to wish Randy a speedy recovery. It’s never nice to see another rider on the sidelines due to injury. I'm very happy that LCR has chosen me to fill in for Randy this weekend at Laguna Seca. It is a track I like a lot and I hope to do a good job for the team and for all the American fans. I want to thank Team Pedercini for giving me the okay, and everyone else involved for helping with this great opportunity.”