For second year Superbike rider Josh Hook, the start to competition in 2014 involved the highest of highs and lowest of lows.

After qualifying on pole at the Phillip Island Superbike Championship opener alongside the World Superbikes, Hook went on to take a deserved race win before his hopes were dashed in a dramatic crash.

CycleOnline.com.au caught up with Josh to find out more about his recovery and hopes for a return to the racetrack in the very near future.

Image: Russell Colvin.

Josh, it has been a few months now since your crash at Phillip Island. Can you fill us in on the progress of your injuries at this stage?

Yeah it’s all going pretty well, the surgeon I saw not so long ago seems to think it’s all healing up well. I’ve got a CT scan I’ve actually got to go to this afternoon on my neck just to see how the fracture is healing on the C6 vertebrae.

The results from the CT scan will go straight to the surgeon in Melbourne, who will diagnose it. He’s going to let me know where to go from there. At this stage I probably haven’t been too good on it.

And from what I understand, you’ve actually been back on a motocross bike as of about a week ago. How are you holding up physically?

I think I was on the motocross bike for three days in a row there, and it didn’t feel too bad. The shoulder is a bit loose at the moment, and there’s still a fair bit of pain there from the moto last week. So I thought I’d jump off the bike for a bit and give it a break.

But other than that my wrist and collarbone are not too bad, the neck is feeling good, it’s just when I am working it a fair bit it does get tight and sore. But I’ve been doing a lot of cycling, and starting to build up the strength in the left side of my body again which was lost from the accident.

My whole left side faded pretty hard, so the main thing is to build strength there to try to be ready for the Mallala test.

That Mallala test is scheduled for the first week of May, do you feel you’ll be back at or close to 100 percent then?

I think I’ll be fine. As long as I strap my wrist up and try to get some support, I think once I’m on the bike it shouldn’t be a drama. I’m just frothing to get out there. We just started getting the ball rolling at the start of the year and to have a crash sort of upset everything, which was a bummer.

I’m just keen to get out there as soon as possible. We’ve got the rest of the month to rest up, I think I should be fine by the test at the start of May.

It was a disastrous end to your campaign at Phillip Island but the majority of the outing was very positive. How much confidence do you take away from your stellar form there, including pole and a race win?

To go down to Phillip Island and be fast in every session, and to be the pacesetter in free practice and qualifying was massive for my confidence. To go out there and have Wayne and Jamie behind you, both well capable riders, is no easy task. I now know that those guys I’ve always looked up to, and can so learn so much from, I can beat, it’s definitely a massive help.

I just have to focus on what I need to do to get the ball rolling. It’s going to be different. I haven’t used the Dunlop control tyre that we used for the ASC yet, so that will be a bit different there too. I just have to take it as it comes.

Image: Russell Colvin.

You were on the sidelines with Team Honda at Wakefield Park for the Swann Series opener. Are you encouraged by the performance of the Honda in the hands of your teammates?

For sure. The Honda is a great bike straight out of the box. In the ASC it’s pretty much a standard motorcycle for the Superbike category. The Honda seems competitive. There’s some well capable riders on it too.

It might be better in some spots than others but having Wayne and Jamie on the bike shows that it is a strong bike and will be a regular race winner. So I’m really looking forward to getting in the mix there and working with the team.

After the test and first race we had at Phillip Island I was expecting that I could go out and challenge for this championship. I was going for the win. To have that incident is a massive bummer and it sets us back in the championship now.

It’s not impossible to make back that ground but it will be hard work, with a bit of luck involved. I watched the Wakefield race, and there are a lot of fast guys there. It will be just be good to get back on the bike and get the ball rolling.

As mentioned the next test is scheduled for Mallala in early May, in preparation for the second round. Have you had any previous experience there and how do you feel you’ll fare?

I haven’t ridden the bigger bike around there. My last time there was in 2008, on a Honda Moriwaki 250, but it is that long ago I can’t even remember the track. It’s good that we’ve got the two day test, we can do a lot of work in that time. I think we’ll be fine by the time the race comes around.