In his first year as a full-time professional racer with the Full Force CarsRus.com.au team, Western Australian rider Dean Porter has had a tough run to date.

The 26-year-old spent his pre-season in the US preparing himself for a strong year in the Monster Energy MX Nationals MX1 class, but an ankle injury at round one proved to be the start of many unfortunate events.

MotoOnline.com.au caught up with Porter today to hit him with Five Questions Why, hear what the likeable character has to say about his rough year so far and his comeback plans.

Why did you travel to the US for your pre-season preparation?

This year was the first year I was able to do Motocross as a profession, so I really wanted to give myself the best chance to go well. I have good sponsors behind me like CarsRus and Savannah Engineers and they helped me raise the money to go over there. I just went for a month and rode good tracks. A lot of the tracks over here in Australia in the summer are pretty crappy. I just wanted to ride good tracks and have some fun, so that was the point of going over there.

Why did you expect to be strong this year?

I felt really good near the end of last year, I got fifth at Coolum, stuff like that – I felt my speed had improved from riding in America as well. I just felt ready, my fitness was the best it’s ever been because I could concentrate on it 100 percent instead of having to work. It was all looking good, I felt really good but it’s the nature of the beast.

Why haven’t we seen you complete an MX Nationals event since round one?

At Raymond Terrace I tore a heap of ligaments, my ATFL ligament was completely torn. Me being me, I tried to rush to get back, I got a cortisone injection and then I ended up doing it again. So instead of being four weeks off, it ended up being seven.

I rode Manjimup, that was my first proper ride back and I felt good because I could actually put my foot on the ground again. But in one of the shootouts I hit a kicker on a jump up the hill, a pretty fast section. I had to let the bike go and bail, so it was massive.

I got pretty lucky really for the size of the crash, but I was knocked out and that’s about it. I was trying to get back with my ankle and then that happened and now I’m out. I’m trying to look back for Toowoomba and Coolum, and maybe Swan Hill. But we’ll see how we go.

Why did you undergo surgery this week?

It’s not major surgery, it’s just arthoscope on my knee. I thought I may as well get it done now while my back is pretty well stuffed, I’ve got a compression fracture in my L3 so I’m still going to need a couple of weeks to fix that. So I figured I may as well fix my knee up, they said it’s only a couple of weeks recovery. So that’s why I’m in here.

Why aren’t you racing any KTM 2-stroke Cup events in 2013?

Because I’m riding for Honda now, the last two-stroke they made was in 2007 and I rode a 2008 model Suzuki last year – so I’d have to go and buy another two-stroke Honda.

And also it’s not just a one-off event this year, there’s four rounds this year and it’s just not feasible, I can’t really afford to do it. I wish I was, I love two-strokes, maybe next year we’ll see what happens.