Less than 12 months ago Matt Moss had the world at his feet. A dual Super X and MX Nationals Champion in the Pro Lites class, a contract in his back pocket to head Stateside for the Rockstar Makita Suzuki team was a dream come true.

However a disastrous crash in Brisbane’s Super X finale last year saw talented South Coast NSW-based Moss suffer a broken back and also a severe wrist injury that has required multiple surgeries to help heal his scaphoid bone.

That ruled him out of the AMA Supercross season and stalled his momentum on the eve of his U.S. debut, only just returning to riding in time for the AMA Motocross Championship opener in May.

While trying to race back to fitness, Moss suffered a frustrating rookie season to finish 23rd overall with a best moto result of 13th at Budds Creek alongside eventual champion Ryan Dungey in the factory Suzuki squad, returning home recently to rebuild his confidence and prepare to defend his Super X Lites crown for a third successive title.

MotoOnline.com.au was there for Moss’ first ride back on the Rockstar Motul Suzuki RM-Z250 last Friday and sat down to get an insight into his first year in the United States.

You’re back in Australia now, here at your first ride back on the Lites bike getting ready for Super X. How’s it feel to be back home and back on the number one Rockstar Motul Suzuki?

It feels good, you know. Jay Foreman’s bikes are unbelievable – they handle good, have got good motors and just have a great package. It feels good to have the number one plate after not really doing anything special lately, so it’s nice to be back.

I’ve had three operations on my wrist and am just getting back on the bike now. My wrist doesn’t bend and I know it’s going to be a hard season because I can tell just from today, but I know I have the best equipment and good guys around me so I just have to get out there and try my very best.

Hopefully we can get that number one again three times running.

After that crash in Brisbane you had to sit out the AMA Supercross season, before you then returned for the Nationals in America. How frustrating and difficult was it for you to be entering the toughest series in the world coming off injuries?

It was an uphill battle the whole way, there’s no doubt about that. You have to go to America and be in the best shape of your life and I felt like I was before I went and broke my back and my wrist in Brisbane.

I had an operation and waited eight weeks, then had another one on my wrist, so that made it five and a half months off the bike. To get back onto a 450 after all that and race Ryan Dungey is hard you know – you’ve got no hope.

I’m coming back this year to do Supercross and then I’ll be back fulltime next year for Motocross and Supercross in Australia, so hopefully I can get back to where I was and have another shot.

I know I’m not done with America, because there’s no way I can settle in life with what I’ve just done. I have to go over and have another shot, do it all again when I’m ready for it.

Although it must have been heartbreaking for you to get injured so close to leaving for America and having your season ruined, it still must have been a good experience to be teammates with Dungey and work with guys like Roger DeCoster at Suzuki…

It was great, really good to ride on factory equipment, but it was always hard to set the bike up when I was never in shape and my wrist was hurting so bad. I couldn’t really work with the team and I was over there by myself.

I was getting my bike ready myself, going training by myself, making dinner by myself, and all of that kind of stuff. If I’m going to go back I’m going to do it all a lot better. Nobody can go over and do it all by themselves, I mean, you even look at Dungey and he has 10 or 15 people doing everything for him.

It’s hard work, but I think in the next two years I should be back over there doing well, for sure.

You’re one of the highest profile riders in Super X and are the defending Lites champion, so what are you expectations for 2010 considering your wrist injury and the fact that there are only a few weeks left to prepare?

You know, I think it’s good. I don’t like to overtrain and I want to hit my peak right as we get to the first round. I think all of these guys peak two or three weeks before the first round and that’s not what I like to do.

I’ve had my first ride today and now I know what I need to do. I need to get home and start training, work on my fitness and also some bike skills, so that’s what I’ll do.

I honestly believe I can win back on the Lites bike. I’ve heard that PJ Larsen is quick, but I know what I can do. Hopefully he can’t match it and hopefully nobody else can match it either.

There’s definitely going to be a lot of good racing this year.

I guess that many expected you on the 450 fulltime this year for Super X, but is it a case of getting that wrist sorted and rebuilding your confidence?

Yeah, well at the moment riding a 450 I’m a danger to myself and a danger to other riders. Like, I’d go through whoops and my hand would come off. Even in Motocross I’d hit a big bump and my hand would come off the ’bars.

It’s really no good and unless I can get full mobility in it, I’m not safe to ride a 450. At this point in time my best option for my career is to get back on the Lites bike, go and win some races and do what I do best.

Hopefully after that I can get back into the Open class and go do that.

You’re still only a young guy at 22 and you mentioned you’re coming back to Australia fulltime next year. So that’s the plan, to come back and regroup?

Definitely. I just need a year to get back my confidence and also to get back to full fitness around my family, my dad and my trainer. I need to feel good about myself, be headstrong and the reality is that this year I didn’t like it. I hated going racing. You’ve got to love where you’re at and love what you’re doing, so I’m going to try and get that fire back in my belly again and get going.

Speaking of training, the Moss Institute team seems to have put a good complex together at The Farm, so how’s that treating you guys? The pictures look unreal.

Yeah, Tom and Jake have put and awesome track together there. Jake came home a lot earlier then me to start putting everything together and it looks really good actually.

I can’t wait to get home, but it’s pretty technical and an elite track. I don’t want to get on it when I’m not ready, so I’m riding on some basic tracks right now. It’s a great set-up down there for anybody to go out riding, so I can’t wait to get back down there to train with my brother and get going fast again.

Cool man, well we look forward to having you back at the front for Super X and can’t wait for round one…

Yeah, it should be unreal. Thanks, mate!