Supercars driver discovers brutal injury months after it happened
Supercars driver James Courtney has been racing with a broken shoulder for two months, unbeknownst to him.
The 41-year-old driver said it was only because of the Covid-19 forced hiatus mid-way through the Supercars season that he happened to discover the injury.
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Courtney said the injury had happened when his 11-year-old son tackled him during a father-son rugby match back in May.
Incredibly, Courtney said it wasn't until his partner, Teagan Woodford, also suffered an injury that there was a chance to get his own shoulder checked out properly.
He told AAP that some friends of his had opened a radiology business, and it was an offer from them that resulted in the injury being picked up.
"Probably never would've got it if the season kept going but because we had this time off and (partner) Tegan hurt herself, my mate Zane just opened up a new Mermaid Beach radiology with these new flash machines and he said come down have a look and we'll give you a scan and then boom, found it all," Courtney said.
The 41-year-old raced at back-to-back events in Townsville in July with the injury and will spend the next month and a half allowing it to heal before the championship resumes.
"We've got time so just yet cruise around and let it heal itself," the Boost Mobile Racing driver said.
Winton raceway - in regional Victoria - will host Supercars' return on October 2-3 after a revised calendar was issued late last month.
The championship then heads to Phillip Island for a SuperSprint event on October 23-24 before the showpiece Bathurst 1000 at Mount Panorama from November 4-7.
Despite NSW's ongoing coronavirus outbreak, Supercars chief executive Sean Seamer was hopeful the later date for the 1000km endurance event will allow fans to attend in some capacity.
"We will meet all COVID-19 safety requirements necessary to ensure this year's great race goes ahead," Seamer said when the revised calendar was released.
"Our aim is to ensure we can bring back as many fans as possible."
Perth, NZ lose Supercars races to virus
Pandemic restrictions have forced the cancellation of the New Zealand and Perth races in the Supercars Championship, as organisers scramble to save the Bathurst 1000.
Bathurst, the most high-profile event in the calendar, was scheduled to run from October 7 to 10 but will now be held from November 4 to 7, due to COVID-19 restrictions currently in place in NSW.
"With the ever-changing COVID landscape, our teams and broadcast partners have agreed it is in all our stakeholders' best interests commercially and competitively to move our premier event to a later date," Supercars CEO Sean Seamer said in a statement.
With new travel restrictions imposed between NZ and Australia, teams will not be able to cross the ditch to compete. In addition, border closures in Western Australia placed the Perth race in jeopardy.
"Unfortunately, our event planned for Perth presents significant risk with the ongoing restrictions, so we've made the difficult decision to move it to the 2022 calendar," Seamer said.
"Similarly, our Kiwi fans across the ditch will be undoubtedly disappointed to see New Zealand does not feature on the revised calendar due to the trans-Tasman bubble being suspended.
"These are challenging times for all sporting codes, which is why we have had to remain flexible with our calendar arrangements and make significant changes where required."
With AAP
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