It will be a damage control round for Nathan Crawford this weekend as he makes his premier class debut at Wonthaggi’s season-opening round of the 2017 Motul MX Nationals in Victoria.

Preparing for a wildcard appearance in the MXGP of Indonesia, the Mega Bulk Fuels Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team rider sustained an arm injury that would derail his positive pre-season progress on the MX1 machine.

Despite the setback, the Queenslander looks forward to making his first Motul MX Nationals appearance aboard the factory KX450F this weekend to kick off the 10-round Australian motocross series.

“Everything was going really, really good until my accident, but that’s all healed up now and I’m looking forward to this weekend,” said Crawford. “It’s going to be nice to be racing in MX1 for the first time with the MEGA Bulk Fuels Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team for the first time and it’s my first factory ride as well.”

With a three-week break between rounds one and two, Crawford will focus on gathering crucial championship points before using the small break to continue his return to form following the injury.

“It’s going to be about circulating for me at round one, easing into it after what was a disrupted pre-season, just so we get some points before I’m 100 percent ready for round two,” he explained. “I’m excited though and the whole team has been really good.”

Crawford will be joined by former MXGP regular Aleksandr Tonkov this weekend in Wonthaggi and for the entire 2017 season, the last-minute addition to the team confirmed earlier this week.