Queensland teenager Brock Giblin is hopeful of returning home by mid-October as he continues to recover from burns sustained at Sydney Motorsport Park in July.
Giblin suffered burns to over half his body when the Australian Manufacturers' Championship Mazda 3 entry he was driving rolled and caught fire at the circuit's high-speed Turn 1.
Initially in a medically induced coma, the 17-year-old spent over two months at Sydney's Royal North Shore Hospital before being transferred to the Graythwaite Rehabilitation Centre at Ryde Hospital last week.
According to an official update on his condition from Osborne Motorsport, Giblin is “now engaged in an intensive rehabilitation program to increase mobility, regain muscle tone, and ensure a full range of movement as his burns continue to heal”.
“He is able to walk slowly and is consistently increasing his distances and concentrating on regaining muscle tone and a full range of movement,” said Osborne.
“As a young man with a competitive and outgoing spirit, Brock is in much better spirits since moving to the rehab clinic where he is being able to become more active, and his recovery is progressing well with each day that passes.
“There hasn't been a day that Brock hasn't had either his mother or father by his side, and I know he is greatly appreciative of the support of his family as well as the greater motorsport community during his recovery, as is everyone at Osborne Motorsport.”
A full recovery is expected to take as long as three-years, but has not tempered Giblin's enthusiasm for the sport.
The former Queensland Hyundai Excel competitor recently told News Ltd that he intends to return to racing once the process is complete.
“I've just got to take it step by step and eventually we'll get home,” he said.
“I'll go back to (racing). I love the adrenalin rush and the push of it.”
Giblin added that he did not remember the fire erupting after the accident.
“I remember starting to roll,” he said.
“The next thing I remember is waking up in the ambulance, going back to sleep and waking up again.”
The efforts of fellow driver Ryan McLeod played a key role in rescuing Giblin, whose crash occurred during Friday free practice, which was not officially part of the weekend's Shannons Nationals meeting.