Image: Foremost Media.

Recovering from extensive injuries sustained at last year’s Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) finals at The Bend, Daniel Falzon is on the road to recovery aiming for a return at Phillip Island’s season-opener.

Falzon qualified an impressive P3 at the South Australian venue before a crash in the opening lap of race two resulted in a broken femur, pelvis and lower back.

The CAT-backed JD Racing Yamaha rider underwent surgery shortly after to place a rod inside his femur and screw his sacrum back together, determined to regain the strength necessary to ride a Superbike and he’s hoping to return in time for round one of the new season between 25-27 February.

“It’s been quite a difficult off-season for us, I’ve just been focussing on 100 percent on making sure that I have all the strength in my leg before getting back on the bike,” Falzon told CycleOnline. “I’ve been doing everything I can with rehab on the bike, up at five in the morning, to swimming every day.

“It’s been quite positive. I’m looking forward to getting back on the bike, I feel like I have strength in the muscle, but definitely, the bone is still a long way from being fully healed – we’re looking at more six to nine months for that kind of injury.”

Multiple national Supersport champion Falzon is set to make an outing at The Bend tomorrow and Phillip Island next Monday and Tuesday to evaluate his condition and begin preparations for the 2022 ASBK championship on new YZF-R1 machinery.

“If all goes well and we are not in too much pain, then we will have every intention of kicking off the season at Phillip Island for sure,” Falzon added. “It’s going to be a difficult first round, we are starting on the back foot having missed testing.

“The team have been working absolutely flat out behind the scenes to build a bike that is different to the previous years, we have upgraded to 2022 model and different electronics package for this year.”