Image: MXN.

Queensland’s Nathan Crawford has recommenced riding after overcoming internal injuries sustained days prior to Coolum’s Motul MX Nationals grand finale last month.

Crawford was leading the MX2 championship in the lead-up to Coolum and was tipped as the favourite to win, however a costly mistake while practicing for the event saw him receive lacerations to his spleen and kidney, ultimately denying him the chance of claiming his first professional championship.

The 19-year-old told MotoOnline.com.au that after a month of recovery he felt he was at an adequate level to return to riding, putting his injuries to the test during a practice session yesterday at Coolum.

“It’s only been around four weeks since I came out of hospital,” Crawford explained. “Obviously I was getting really impatient, and I felt like I was getting little hints here and there that I could try and race Toowoomba. So I thought I would get on the bike and see how it feels.”

“I had my first ride yesterday at Coolum and my injuries felt really good – I didn’t have any major issues. Hopefully I’ll be on a supercross track by the end of the week as my goal is to try and line-up at Toowoomba.”

Crawford is aiming to race Toowoomba’s second round of the 2016 Australia Supercross Championship next month on 14 October, although he is aware that the short turnaround could leave him under prepared for the event.

“I’m not rushing into it, and obviously I don’t want to do anything stupid and get hurt again. We’ll just see how I go by the time I get to Toowoomba,” he continued.

“I should be alright to ride whether or not I have enough time on the bike and get the testing done that I need before the race. I doubt I’ll be at 100 percent, but I have to line-up and get that first race out of the way and then focus on the next few rounds.”

The Husqvarna rider is yet to complete a full season of supercross after breaking his leg in the opening rounds of the 2015 championship forced him to withdraw from the series.