MV Agusta’s World Supersport title challenger Jules Cluzel has been ruled out of further competition this year after undergoing an operation on leg he badly broke in free practice two at Jerez.

The Frenchman suffered an open fracture of his left tibia and fibula, and team boss Brian Gillen says that Cluzel and the squad are now focusing on next season. Cluzel has had plates and screws fitted to the bones in order to stabilise the bone fragments and reconstruct the joint.

“He is obviously disappointed with what happened but has come to terms with the fact that, right now, the focus is looking forward to next year,” said Gillen. “He has been operated and will then begin the period of getting back together, getting back into shape and - if things go well - even getting back on the bike before the end of the year to do the winter tests.

“With the type of fractures he has and with the operations that are going to be done, I think it is a little unrealistic to come back that quickly. It would be a risk of creating more damage and, if anything else happened, it could put next year at risk. Right now, all we need to do is: hit the reset button, focus all of our efforts and stay concentrated for next year.

“Jules is having a number of screws put into the left ankle,” Gillen continued. “At that point, the right ankle – which has a hairline fracture – is just going to be put in a cast and it should heal up correctly. After that, it is just a matter of how fast he can physically recover. You obviously have to go through certain steps. He will be doing some training in the swimming pool and then, step-by-step, we will see how it progresses. For sure, he can be competitive again next year.”