Image: Jeff Crow.

Flamboyant Monster Energy MX Nationals MX2 flyer Josh Cachia made a welcome, but short-lived, return to racing at Wonthaggi on Sunday, sidelined following a heavy crash in the opening 30-minute moto.

Making his first appearance of 2014 following almost a full year battling ongoing wrist injuries, Cachia’s anticipated comeback saw him start strongly in moto one before being involved in an incident with former champion Ryan Marmont.

The collision, which saw Cachia ejected after making contact with Marmont’s stricken RM-Z250, concussed 2010 MXD title winner Cachia and ultimately put an end to his round of racing prematurely.

“The first moto was good because I haven’t raced in 10 months, so it was good to be back,” Cachia told MotoOnline. “I got a good start and was running third for a little bit, then made a mistake and Doggy was in front of me. He had a weird crash where his bike went 90-90, sort of went right and then back left.

“I was already pinning it to get past, but it sort of jumped out in front of me. I had no choice but to go over it and the last thing I can remember was doing a massive flip, landing on my back and knocked to six.

“When I got back to the truck I was vomiting, tired and lethargic, so it was obvious I was concussed and couldn’t go on racing like the way I was.”

With limited time on the bike and rare quality motos before Wonthaggi, Cachia was content with his outright performance and has rising hopes for when the series enters South Australia this month.

“I probably came back a bit early, but in a way it was good to get a top three start and I don’t think it will take long to get back to where I was,” he added. “As bad as it was, I actually feel pretty good going into Murray Bridge.

“My wrist is surprisingly good and I’m happy about that. It would have been really shitty if I jarred my wrist and it sent me back again.”

Cachia will continue his comeback at Murray Bridge on 18 May; his left wrist heavily braces following multiple surgeries to his frustrating scaphoid injury.