Image: Andy McGechan/BikesportNZ.com.

Former MX2 Australian Motocross Champion Ford Dale has targeted a Swan Hill return to the Monster Energy MX Nationals, scheduled to complete the second half of the 2014 season.

KTM Motocross Racing Team’s Dale suffered facial lacerations and a broken left arm late in the pre-season, delaying his anticipated KTM debut in the MX1 ranks.

The 25-year-old Queenslander will resume riding this weekend, before contesting a series of races in the lead up to his national return – potentially including Western Australia’s Manjimup 15,000.

“I’m planning on returning to riding this weekend,” Dale told MotoOnline.com.au. “I’m seeing a doctor at the end of this week and then hopefully I will have the all-clear to practice again.

“I’ll be at Manjimup for the 15,000 but I’m not certain if I’ll race or not yet. I’ll just see where my fitness is at, how I feel and that kind of thing. I would say I’ll race though if I can, because I want to get some race-time under my belt.

“The plan is to do a few races here and there before Swan Hill and that’s where I’ll be aiming to be back at 100 percent. I’ll be back for the second half and I assume I’ll be back at my normal speed. It’s just a matter of playing it by ear at first and then seeing where we are at.”

While his championship hopes have been disintegrated through injury, Dale isn’t ruling out race and round wins to conclude the season on a high note upon return.

“I’m definitely not going out there to lose – we race to win,” he added. “So I’m confident that I’ll be able to get up to the speed of the other guys.

“My knees that that I had reconstructed last year are awesome, plus my arm feels really strong as well. It’s got a plate in it and is as strong as it gets. I’ve been training for a few weeks now and everything is good.”

Swan Hill – round six on 29 June following the mid-season break – will mark Dale’s first national appearance since Broadford’s fourth round in 2013, when a knee injury forced him out of the season remainder.