Seven-time British champion Scott Nicholls admits “June is the absolute earliest” he will make his racing return after undergoing shoulder surgery at the end of last season.
The TNT Sports reporter and expert crashed out of Cab Direct Championship club Oxford’s Knockout Cup Final, first leg against Poole at Cowley on October 17, suffering a dislocated shoulder.
While Nicholls will kick off the season playing his part in TNT Sports’ British Rowe Motor Oil Premiership coverage, he discovered at a very early stage that he wouldn’t be starting the 2025 season on the track.
He said: “I found out I wouldn’t be ready to start the new season when I had the scan in November. When the shoulder was out, I thought it would be a case of popping it back in, giving it a couple of weeks and I’d be good to go for this year.
“But I was really struggling with the arm and couldn’t lift it up. I knew there was damage, so I had a scan done and I actually went and saw the surgeon who did my rotator cuff surgery.
“I am always in denial and always think there’s a quicker route. He said to me at the time, ‘You will be looking at a minimum of six to nine months.’ I said, ‘You have to be joking! It can’t be!’ I just didn’t want to accept it. I thought I would get a second opinion and that came back with the same result.
“It was at that point I phoned Oxford team manager Peter Schroeck and said, ‘You will have to make other plans. I am not going to be ready for the start of the season.’
“All I know is that June is the absolute earliest, and I am going from there. But it’s not like I can say it will be good to go on June 1. I just don’t know. People heal differently. Sometimes you can speed things up, but you can easily aggravate it and set it back.
“The shoulder is a really complex joint. Like your hip, it moves in all directions, so there is an awful lot going on. It isn’t just fixing a simple ligament or tear – it’s multiple things.
“I can’t put a date on my return, and I am not going to. I don’t want to put myself in a position where I am committing to something I can’t honour. I just know that June is the earliest. If I can be fit for then, it will be great. But nearer the time, I will have to see how it is.”
It’s not the first time Nicholls has faced shoulder trouble. He added: “The injury was made worse by the fact I had rotator cuff surgery on it three years ago.
“The shoulder was good. Everything had tightened back up and was functioning as it should. When it did come out, it did a lot more damage. It came out with a lot of force.
“It wasn’t an overly big crash, but I drove my arm or elbow into the floor and that knocked the shoulder out. As a result, it badly tore lots of muscles. I even tore my pectoral muscles and ripped a bicep tendon off. It made a right mess.
“They couldn’t put the shoulder back in at the track. They tried a couple of times. What followed was quite a big op apparently with a fair few bits going on inside.
"It was a good operation, and I just hope I can heal up as quickly as I can. Then hopefully I can be back without missing too much of the season.”