DJR crew member undergoes surgery after pit incident

Blanshard sustained a finger injury from a rattle gun during a stop in the opening 100-kilometre race of the Townsville 500.

He was hospitalised and underwent surgery today.

That update was delivered by lead DJR driver Brodie Kostecki after his third-place finish in Saturday’s race, where his progress was significantly hampered by a slow first stop.

Kostecki referenced how the slow stop cost him a shot at victory, before turning his attention to the injured Blanshard.

“When you lose 10 seconds in the pits, with the way the category is today, it’s pretty hard to make that up,” he said.

“We’ll reset and go again tomorrow.

“We had a ring-in today for the stops after Charlie had a little injury yesterday. He’s been watching from hospital and has just come out of surgery now, so great to see he’s doing well.

“I believe [the cause was] the wheel gun socket, while he was putting the wheel on, unfortunately caught his finger. He’s done a bit of damage to that.”

Speedcafe has clarified with DJR that the replacement staff member was not responsible for Kostecki’s slow stop.