Luckless Irishman Eugene Laverty has undergone surgery to fix a total of ten fractures in his wrists after a massive crash at the Imola WorldSBK round.

The Goeleven Ducati rider was spat off his Panigale V4R during Friday's first practice and immediately headed for Barcelona to consult with MotoGP surgeon Dr Xavier Mir.

“I had my first operation on my right wrist on Saturday and it was the one I was most worried about," said Laverty.

There were seven fractures inside and three pretty big ones so, Dr. Mir has come to my rescue and held the job. I am a lot more relaxed about that now, as I know it will be OK.

Yesterday, Laverty had three more fractures fixed under the surgeons knife and he will need around six to eight weeks recovery time. It means he will definitely miss the upcoming Jerez and Misano rounds, and Donington also looks iffy.

At Imola, joint BSB series leader Tommy Bridewell stood-in for Laverty but his domestic commitments look likely to rule him out of further rides.

It is believed that Lorenzo Savadori could be named as Laverty's replacement for the next couple of races.