Rising star Jonathan Venter is expected to miss the rest of the GT Asia season due to injuries sustained in a cycling accident.
The 19-year-old Aston Martin Academy driver from Sydney crashed during a cycling training ride last week.
Venter, who competes for Craft Bamboo Racing in GT Asia, was transported to St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney’s East, where he was diagnosed with a dislocated and fractured right hip.
He will undergo surgery today (Monday) to clean his hip joint and insert plates into the affected area to aid the recovery process.
The injury will rule the young Aussie out of the three remaining championship rounds, beginning with the seventh meeting at Malaysia’s Sepang circuit held from September 5-6.
Venter had been enjoying an impressive GT Asia campaign alongside the experienced Darryl O’Young, with the pair tied for the championship lead with Adderly Fong and Keita Sawa.
“This whole situation is a massive shock to me and trying to digest that this season is over after such a strong performance has been hard,” said Venter.
“I really feel for both the team and Darryl (O’ Young) as we have come so far this year and become a real family, competing at our best this whole season.
“To have finally reached the top position in the championship gave us all a great boost of confidence and motivation.
“My training and focus became much more intense and I was determined to give the rest of the season my best shot.
“Lying in hospital now brings up a lot of ‘what if’ questions and it’s been hard trying to re-focus on the road to recovery.”
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