V8 Supercars Champion, James Courtney will today undergo a second procedure in his efforts to be ready for the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 in two week’s time.

The Holden Racing Team driver was injured in a freak accident when he was hit by the team’s advertising walls in pit lane at Sydney Motorsport Park last month, the walls having been displaced and sent flying by the downdraft of a Navy Seahawk helicopter.

Initially Courtney was diagnosed to have received two broken ribs and a punctured lung, but further examinations revealed Courtney had in fact suffered five broken ribs, and cartilage damage.

Today’s procedure will see pulsed radio frequencies (electrical pulses) put into Courtney’s ribs and the nerve endings ‘numbed’ to provide pain relief and assist recovery.

Courtney said he was optimistic about the process and remained focussed on making his comeback for HRT at Mount Panorama.

“I went into hospital last week and had a procedure to see if this would work and it was quite successful, so I’m confident today’s operation will get the pain under control and I can come off a lot of the medication I have been prescribed,” Courtney said.

“Hopefully, I walk away pain free from it which will allow me to really focus on getting back behind the wheel of my HRT Commodore at Bathurst.”