Image: Foremost Media.

This weekend’s Berry Sweet Manjimup 15,000 will mark the beginning of Jackson Richardson’s return to racing as he plans to contest the final two rounds of the Penrite ProMX Championship before taking on the Australian Supercross Championship.

Richardson initially registered his interest in the Manjimup event several months ago, however the opportunity to travel to Western Australia for the famous race only came to fruition in recent weeks thanks to the support of local GasGas dealer Savage Motorcycles.

The event, which this year has attracted factory riders from all seven major manufacturers, will be the first major competitive outing for the two-time SX2 champion since the S-X Open Melbourne at Marvel Stadium in 2019. Richardson’s last national motocross appearance was in May 2018.

“I hadn’t originally planned on this, so I’m starting racing a bit earlier than I anticipated, but I had the opportunity to go and I couldn’t turn it down,” Richardson explained to MotoOnline.com.au.

“I was originally going to be doing some state title rounds in the next month, and then the last two ProMX rounds. My main focus was going to be supercross – that’s the ultimate one I want to be doing good at – so I was planning on getting a few races under my belt just to get into those race situations.

“I haven’t ridden with any pro guys [recently] – I’ve been up in Cairns, so I’m not going to the practice tracks with these guys, so I’m in that unknown. I feel like I’m riding pretty good – I’ve got to walk out of there with two ways – I’m either heading in the right direction, or I’ve got more work to do than what I originally anticipated.

“I feel good and I’ve been hard training for a few months now, so I’m in pretty good shape. Getting out there and racing is a lot different to the practice track, so it’s going to be a bit of a feeler and see where I’m at.”

The entry list for Sunday’s Manjimup 15,000 features the biggest names in the sport domestically, including Regan Duffy (KTM Racing Team), Todd Waters (Husqvarna Racing Team), Luke Clout (CDR Yamaha Monster Energy), Brett Metcalfe (Honda Racing), and many more.