MotoGP star rookie Fabio Quartararo underwent arm-pump surgery to his right forearm, at short notice, on Tuesday morning in Barcelona.

The operation at the Hospital Universitari Dexeus lasted just over an hour and was performed by Dr. Xavier Mir. The Frenchman will remain under observation until Wednesday and is hoping to be fit for the forthcoming Catalan GP on June 14th-16th.

"It's an operation that we hadn't previously scheduled, but which we decided to go ahead with after discussions with Dr. Xavier Mir following the Italian GP," said Quartararo, who slipped from second on the grid to tenth in Sunday's Mugello race.

"The conditions I experienced last Sunday weren't normal, and they alerted us to the possibility of an arm pump issue.

"I preferred to have it treated now, in order to avoid any surprises in the future and be able to forget about it for the rest of the season. It was a short operation and one often performed on many riders, and was done by an expert on the matter.

"I want to thank Dr. Mir and his team for their availability and their work. I'm looking forward to the Catalan GP next week!"

"Yesterday Fabio came for a consultation and we did an MRI with rest and resistence, which confirmed that he was suffering from compartmental syndrome in his right forearm flexors," added Dr Mir.

"Once this diagnosis was made, we decided to release the flexor muscles by opening the compression.

"Today’s operation went well; now Fabio will undergo a treatment programme to prevent inflammation and will remain in hospital for 24 hours. In a couple of days he will begin physiotherapy and hopefully he will be fit to race at the Catalan GP."

Despite a lower spec bike, Quartararo - the youngest ever rider to claim a MotoGP pole position - was top Yamaha in all but one of his track sessions leading up to the race at Mugello.

Although his best MotoGP result is currently seventh, the 20-year-old was in contention for a podium when he suffered a technical problem in Spain and holds a healthy advantage in the Rookie of the Year contest.