MotoGP champion Nicky Hayden has had successful surgery on the injured right shoulder that forced him to miss this week's testing session at Jerez.

The Repsol Honda rider underwent the operation at the Freemont Clinic in California having picked up the injury during the Portuguese Grand Prix – the penultimate event of the season where he was unceremiously taken out by team-mate Dani Pedrosa.

During the procedure, performed by Dr Art Ting, some bone was shaved off the injured shoulder bone to encourage improved healing of the fracture, and the rotator cuff was repaired. At the same time the metal plate on the 25-year-old American's right collarbone was replaced with a smaller plate. The metal plate, a legacy of a Supermoto crash in 2004, was bent at Estoril and scans on Wednesday showed that the fall had re-fractured his previously broken collarbone.

Hayden will now wear a sling for two weeks and if his recovery goes to plan, he should be out in action for the opening MotoGP test of 2007 at Sepang in late January.

"I actually feel pretty good already,” Hayden admitted from the clinic. “I'll be off bikes for a while but Aldon Baker, my trainer, is going to get me back doing some cardio work next week and I'm definitely looking forward to that. It's obviously been a great year all round and I'm glad I've had the shoulder fixed because it means I can now begin to prepare for the defence of this title.

“I'd like to thank Dr Ting and the staff at Freemont, and all the fans who've given me great support this year. See you all in 2007!”