'Not a small fracture': Payne required surgery on broken wrist
Payne raced in Tasmania with fracture, required surgery
Bathurst champion had screws, plate placed on broken arm
Payne raced to third in Race 15, second in Race 16
Matt Payne raced in Tasmania just days after surgery on a fractured wrist, the Penrite Racing driver has revealed.
Payne confirmed Thursday that he required surgery on his left arm in the lead-up to last weekend's Tyrepower Tasmania Super 440.
In the lead-up to the event, Payne sheltered the severity of the injury and passed it off as a sprain on both Drivers Only and to the media, and wore bandages pre-round and at the track in Tasmania.
Remarkably, the New Zealander raced to podiums in the final two races of the weekend, having embarked on a successful rehabilitation program to get him match fit with performance coach Heath Meldrum.
"I've had a bit of an injury, probably worse than what I have been making it out to be,” the 23-year-old said in a social media video.
“Heath and I were out mountain biking. We're about five minutes in, and unfortunately I've just washed the front, went down, and I've braced with my left hand.
“That was the moment I knew that not able to ride out of here. I need to walk back to the car and obviously go from there.”
Payne required multiple screws and a plate on the fracture.
"The moment it happened, it was obviously just management from that point. Essentially we had Matt in for surgery on the Tuesday,” Meldrum said.
"From there, just that process of all hands on deck, making sure that the rehab process was at 100% from day one."
Payne added: "It ended up being I think seven screws and a plate. It's not a small fracture. It's quite big.
On why he kept the severity of the injury hidden, Payne said: "I didn't want to feel like I could use that as an excuse for my performance.
"I don't feel like it's really hampering me in any way when I drive... for me on the weekend, I just wanted to keep it quiet to focus on what I wanted to do, and that's drive fast."
Speaking post-race on Sunday, Payne insisted he expects to be at full fitness for the next round in Darwin, saying: “There’s a lot of gear changes going on around [Symmons Plains] and there’s some pretty quick laps, but yeah, I’m really happy with it.
“And I’m really happy to get through the weekend and being able to move on and have the next few weeks to get it even better. Then it should be absolutely 100% for the next round.
“I’m really proud of the effort that everyone’s helped me with and the journey that we’ve been on the last couple of weeks.”
Payne has three weeks to continue his recovery before racing in Darwin on June 19-21.
