Motorsport’s greatest tales of recovering from injury

Shane van Gisbergen put in one of Supercars’ greatest ever drives at the second round of the championship at Sandown earlier this year. While his heroic charge from 17th to 1st (a record-breaking run for the historic venue) was impressive in its own right, what made SVG’s efforts truly noteworthy was that he wasn’t at full health. Far from it actually with a recently broken collarbone and a trio of broken ribs, which were undiagnosed at the time.

Ahead of the race weekend, SVG estimated he was only “80 per cent ready” and there remained doubts that he’d even drive right up until he ultimately did.

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The tally of racing careers cut short by injury is long. On the flip side, the list of those who suffer a painful physical setback, only to return to victory lane, is relatively short.

The most legendary tale of motorsport recovery has to be Niki Lauda who spent just six weeks healing from his horrific 1976 Nurburgring crash (which included having his lungs vacuumed)before returning to the track at Monza. The mental scars of his crash meant the Austrian completed just a single lap in practice, but nevertheless he persisted. Having competed the full grand prix, Lauda was seen in pit lane peeling blood soaked bandages from his scalp. He would famously win the championship in ’77, and claimed victory in a further 13 grand prix.

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For some unbelievable efforts while injured we need to also pay tribute to those who compete on two wheels. Only a few days before Aussie legend Toby Price was set to compete in the 2015 Finke Desert Race on a motorbike, his boot was impaled by a large stick, breaking his right ankle along with several bones in his foot.

Before the pain set in, Price grabbed the stick, removed it and then kept the injuries secret in order to prevent anyone stopping him from competing. He’d go on to win both days of that year’s race, averaging in excess of 120km/h across 450km of the toughest roads in the Outback. Four years later Price would take victory in the 2019 Dakar after breaking the scaphoid in his right wrist a month ahead of starting the world’s toughest race.

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Jorge Lorenzo’s injury-to-recovery story is the shortest here. During a soaked practice session for the 2013 Dutch round of MotoGP, the Spaniard hit standing water at more than 200km/h, breaking his left collarbone – which had also been snapped before, in 2005. Sustaining the injury on a Thursday, Lorenzo flew to Spain, had surgery in the early hours of Friday, returned to the Netherlands Friday afternoon, and then completed the full race on Saturday, taming his 185kW/160kg Yamaha to place fifth. Lorenzo would finish runner-up in the championship that year, before winning his final premier class title in 2015.

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On the other end of the spectrum (and back on four wheels), Tiago Monteiro spent 1034 days waiting for another victory after one of the biggest crashes never seen in touring car history. On the last day of a three day test at the Catalunya circuit in Spain in September 2016, Monteiro’s Honda WTCC suffered a catastrophic brake failure, hitting the turn 1 wall at 255km/h. Monteiro was knocked unconscious for six hours, suffered compressed nerves, broke three ribs, ripped his bicep from the bone, and snapped the muscles that control eye movement. He was leading the WTCC standings at the time of his crash, but it took more than two years before he could even sit in a race car again. Footage of Monteiro’s shunt has never been released, resulting in his remarkable recovery being overlooked by many.

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Now, there are some punters who think they could become a racing driver if given the right opportunity. But these stories are proof that there’s more to being a motorsport professional than simple skill, with the very best possessing a deep well of mental and physical fortitude to pull from.

You might think you are fast, but are you willing to smash a Supercar over meaty kerbs and risk breaking bolts that have been freshly screwed into your bones? Would you be able to strap yourself into a machine that just six weeks prior had been engulfed in flames? Could you squash any doubt and brake later than everyone else after pressing that pedal once before and getting no response? If not, this game might not be for you.

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