Serco Yamaha’s Nathan Crawford has declared he’s hopeful of returning to action for the Monster Energy AUS-X Open on 10 November, even if he’s yet to complete any prior rounds of the Australian Supercross Championship.

Crawford has been sidelined since May where he underwent immediate surgery to repair his shoulder that was damaged in an incident at Wonthaggi’s MX Nationals double-header, which, at the time, saw him lead the standings in the competitive MX2 class.

An extended recovery period prompted the Brisbane-based Serco outfit to enlist AMA Arenacross champion Jacob Hayes for the entire supercross series alongside recently-crowned MX2 champion Wilson Todd, meaning a possible return from Crawford would see the squad expand to three riders.

“The shoulder is coming along pretty well and I feel I’m back to 90-95 percent,” Crawford told MotoOnline.com.au. “There are just a few little things that I do in the gym for training that are a little restrictive. I’m pretty close to being back on the bike – I think my last appointment with the doctor is this week, so hopefully he gives me the all clear to start riding.

“The option is definitely there [to race supercross] and I definitely think I’ll be on the gate at some stage, but it comes down to what the team and I decide to do and how comfortable I am. Ideally, I’d like to race the AUS-X Open.

“I’m going to go back to my normal training program and I’ll see how much time I have before the AUS-X Open, or even a round before then. We’ll make a decision based off riding motocross in the next couple of weeks, but I’d definitely like to race the AUS-X Open even not having any races under my belt.”

The Australian Supercross Championship Championship is scheduled to commence on 15 September at Jimboomba in Queensland before visiting Coolum, Geelong and Port Adelaide on consecutive weekends from the 6-20 October.