A pre-event mishap in the lead up to Hattah has benched North Star Pastoral KTM Desert Racing Team’s Callum Norton for the 2019 edition of the desert race.

The youthful Victorian, who’s coming off a gritty effort in the Finke Desert Race last month, suffered a light tip-over while competing in a pony express event at the weekend in preparation for Hattah, landing awkwardly and subsequently breaking his collarbone in the process.

“I was out near where Hattah is for an event – a pony express – so we were doing it in pairs,” Norton explained to MotoOnline.com.au. “On my first lap I was going around a section that’s not too fast, but just had a little tip-over out of a corner and landed straight on my shoulder.

“I got up and could feel straight away that I had broken my collarbone. It wasn’t a big crash, and the rest of the body is okay – it’s just one of those things that happened pretty quickly.

“Hattah is always one of my favourite events in the year, I always look forward to and it suits me pretty well. I’m definitely spewing I won’t be racing, but I’ll hopefully be there to watch.”

Thefactory outfit will field KTM Enduro Racing Team regulars Daniel Milner and Lyndon Snodgrass at this weekend’s Hattah in Victoria.