Image: Foremost Media.

Quad Lock Honda rider Brodie Connolly is set to miss the opening rounds of the Pro Motocross Championship, with the New Zealand talent still recovering from a back injury sustained in the lead-up to the 250SX East opener in February.

Connolly had been preparing to contest the eastern regional series after transferring to America during the off-season, however, a training accident resulted in a broken L1 vertebrae that required significant time on the sidelines.

“I broke my L1 vertebrae, [and] I had to have three months off,” Connolly told MotoOnline. “I broke some of the transverse processes as well, a few of those. I just had an awkward crash riding Supercross – I was on a slow lap and lost traction on an up ramp in a rhythm section.

“I was going to case the triple, and I was on a funny angle. So I jumped off and landed on my ass, and I guess that’s what did it. It was a bit of a weird one, awkward crash. I’ve been back riding for a couple of weeks now, so not too long.”

The two-time Australian ProMX MX2 champion revealed he will miss this Saturday’s Pro Motocross opener at Fox Raceway, instead targeting a return during the early-to-middle stages of the season once fitness and testing progress further.

“I won’t be at round one [of Pro Motocross] just because I’ve only done a couple of weeks [riding],” he continued. “I actually feel really good on the bike, and my speed and stuff are good. It’s just getting a little bit of that bike fitness back.

“But yeah, I still need to do some testing over the next couple of weeks. I’m hoping in my head, maybe like round four or five, sort of, is what I’m thinking, maybe even round three if we can get some testing done and I can get a bit more comfy.”

Connolly lined up for Unadilla, Budds Creek, and Ironman Nationals last year following a successful ProMX MX2 title defence, before sustaining a season-ending broken scaphoid leading into the Boost Mobile AUSX Supercross Championship in October.