Heading into the 2012 season Brenden Harrison was picked as an MX2 title favourite for the Monster Energy MX Nationals series, but a rough off-season riddled with medical issues quickly put the 22-year-old’s plans on hold.

Harrison had surgery on his femur and hand around Christmas time in 2011. Both surgeries were to fix previous injuries that never quite healed as planned. The hand then healed wrong, resulting in the need to have it re-broken, straightened and plated.

After a long road to recovery Harrison is back on the bike and MotoOnline.com.au caught up with the JDR/KTM Factory Racing rider to check up on his progress to date.

You returned to racing last weekend at the Queensland state titles, how did it feel to get back behind the gate?

Yeah everything was really good. I felt good, but I definitely didn’t ride like I was during the week. I rode pretty tight all weekend but it was good to get a race under my belt and I had heaps of fun.

How long had you been back on the bike before that race?

Probably a good solid four weeks on the bike, so it’s been a pretty good preparation but there’s still another three weeks until Hervey Bay so I can’t wait.

We hear you’ve been spending a bit of time on the 450 and 250F, have you been mixing it up a bit getting ready for your return to the nationals?

Yeah I’ve been spending a bit of time on the 450 as well as the 250, it’s been really good but I wasn’t quite fit enough to race both bikes last weekend. So I ended up opting to just finish off the weekend on the 250, but I love the 450 and it’s really good to step back down to the 250 afterwards – I think it helps me a lot.

We spoke before the Monster Energy MX Nationals season and we are half way through it now, obviously the plan still is to come back for Hervey Bay?

Yeah for sure it is definitely the plan to come back for Hervey Bay and I really cannot wait.

You said you’ve been feeling pretty strong on the bike, apart from tightening up a bit for that race weekend, so how would you rate your strength on the bike at this point?

Strength I think is back to around 85-90 percent, I still feel that I have a little bit more left in the tank. But there is nothing better than race practice, you can practice all you want but you’re never race fit, so I’m really looking forward to getting back into it.

Finally, what can you expect for your return and for the rest of the season once you return at Hervey Bay?

I’m just looking for some good starts and to keep it fun. I’m sure if I have fun and ride like I know I can I should be up where I want to be.