Australian Todd Waters will return to racing this weekend at the 11th stop of the MXGP World Championship in Ottabiano, Italy, after being sidelined with collarbone injury.

Waters was drafted into the factory Honda HRC squad prior to the MXGP of Latvia in a guest role, however a fall in the qualification race and subsequent collarbone injury forced him to sit out the following rounds.

Now recovered, the Queenslander says he’s made positive improvements with the CRF450RW, which has provided a fresh boost of confidence ahead of the weekend.

“I’m feeling good heading into the weekend,” Waters expressed. “I’ve had a good couple of days of testing with the team, we made some big improvements with the bike and that brought some fresh confidence.

“Also, I’m getting more confident every lap after the injury – it’s only a month after the operation so it’s still very fresh, but it’s in the past now so I’m ready for some action this weekend.

“I love going to Italy – I’ve heard it’s going to be hot so I’m going to enjoy that side as well. Overall I’m pretty excited after missing the last few rounds so I can’t wait to get back racing the GPs.”

Waters was initially slated to contest the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship in a privateer effort, although he received a last-minute call up to return to the grand prix circuit in place of the injured Brian Bogers.