Image: John Pearson.

Jack Simpson has confirmed he will return to racing at Kyogle’s seventh and eighth rounds of the 2017 Yamaha Australian Off-Road Championship on 22-23 July in New South Wales.

Following a high-speed crash leading into the Tatts Finke Desert Race as part of the KTM Desert Racing Team, the Victorian was left with a punctured lung, two broken ribs and two broken vertebrae.

“It’s been one month now since the crash and the lung is at about 98 percent, the ribs are still healing and the lower back is also healing as well,” Simpson told MotoOnline.com.au. “I will miss Hattah, but I’ll be riding the week after that and I’ll be ready for the Kyogle round of the AORC.”

After missing the Renmark event in South Australia due to his extensive injuries, the former motocross and supercross racer has set his sole focus on returning to the top step in the E1 category at Kyogle.

“Going into this round at Kyogle I’ll be sweet, it’ll be no worries,” Simpson commented. “I just want to win E1, winning my class is all I worry about and Outright wins can come after that.”

After achieving championship success in his first year contesting the AORC series in 2016, Simpson is well aware that he is yet to match his rookie year performance to date.

“The season has been real up-and-down for me,” he added. “I’ve been fast as hell, but all of the peices of the puzzle haven’t really connected – it’s just been a weird one.

“At the first round I collapsed a wheel and just stupid things have happened. Last year was perfect, but this year, although I’ve been roughly in the top three fastest riders each time I’m on the track, I just haven’t put it on paper yet.”

Simpson currently has one E1 class win to his name in 2017 after claiming victory at Miva’s third round of the series in Queensland and currently sits fifth overall in points.