INJURY may have ended his European speedway campaign early, but star Sunraysia rider Justin Sedgmen is getting back on the bike.
Suffering concussion and requiring surgery on his hand and knee following two separate incidents in England this year, the 32-year-old has rehabbed and is ready to attack the Australian summer.
His first night back racing was last Saturday at the South Australian solo titles.
This Saturday night, he is aiming to add to his four Victorian titles at his home track of Olympic Park Speedway in Mildura.
A packed calendar is set to follow as he looks to defend his Phil Crump Solo Trophy on December 29, before taking part in the four-round Australian Championship in early January.
While Sedgmen said he needed to rebuild his “race fitness” following time off, he was keen to get back into the swing of things.
“Saturday will be a good little test for me to see how I go,” he said.
“The busier you are and the more meetings you race at, the more your fitness and sharpness builds, but it can also make you more tired and in our sport, where racing is so short and intense, you need your mind to be sharp.
“Sitting there thinking about what could happen isn’t ideal when you’re recovering, so getting back to racing will be great.
“I actually had a couple of crashes in Adelaide, which wasn’t the ideal preparation, but I came away from it thinking I’ve been off again and haven’t had any more damage.”
The setbacks started in July while racing for the Edinburgh Monarchs when a major crash left Sedgmen unconscious and with significant swelling around his knee, which eventually required surgery to clean out.
After serving his mandatory time away from the track through concussion protocols, the Merbein rider won his first two heats in his return meeting, only to crash in the next race with scans confirming broken bones in his right hand and a broken left scaphoid.
“It wasn’t ideal timing,” an understated Sedgmen said.
“I had a good start winning my first two heats and then I made a mistake and hit the deck and did some real damage to my hand.
“It was probably more painful but at last with x-rays you can see what you need to do to help recover. With the concussion it was definitely much more of the waiting game.”
Sedgmen returned to Australia earlier than anticipated but was keen to make up for lost time after missing 26 race days through injury.
“I’ve nominated for the Australian Solo Championship this year … I want to race as much as possible to try to catch up,” he said.
“When you’re going for the Aussie title you need to have as much time on the bike beforehand as possible to be as sharp as you can be.”
On Saturday, Sedgmen will seek his fifth Victorian Solo title, aiming to equal fellow Sunraysia star Travis McGowan.
Fellow local star Jaimon Lidsey is out to win his third state title and is in red-hot form after helping Belle Vue Aces to win the Speedway Great Britain Premiership in October.
“The ideal plan is to win and I definitely think I’m capable of that, but you’ve got a lot of other guys coming through the ranks at the moment,” Sedgmen said.
“Obviously Jaimon has really established himself now is always hard to beat at home.
“It’s great that we can came back and compete on home soil and really try to give something back to the club who helped us get going, and I know I get a real buzz out of racing in front of a home crowd.”
Alongside the 250cc event, seven riders will also be in the mix to take out the 250cc title and another nine are gunning for the 125cc championship.
Gates open at Olympic Park at 4pm, with juniors to race from 5pm, and senior racing to begin from 7.30pm.
