FMX's Sheehan's back

Donnybrook daredevil Josh Sheehan is celebrating a successful return to the competitive freestyle motocross circuit after finishing second at the opening event of the Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour in Mexico City earlier this month.

Sheehan suffered a broken heel and fractured collarbone when a routine trick went bad at Madrid X-Fighters in July last year.

The Nitro Circus star has now made a near full recovery and was back to his crowd-thrilling best at Monumental Plaza de Toros on March 14.

Sheehan has ridden in countless shows since his injury but said he had cleared a major hurdle with a successful performance in the X-Fighters season opener.

“I was back on the bike in mid-October and have ridden with Nitro Circus all through Europe and the US since then, ” Sheehan said.

“My ankle really held me back to start with, it had no give or flexibility so if I landed and my foot wasn’t perfectly on the peg it would hurt.

“Now it’s still sore on cold mornings but when I’ve got the riding boot on it feels like new.”

The silver medal in Mexico City is Sheehan’s second best X-Fighters result, behind a first place finish in Sydney in 2011.

“I didn’t expect to do as well as I did, especially because I went into the competition with nothing new from last year, ” Sheehan said.

“Luckily Europe and the US had really bad winters weather wise so a lot of the other riders couldn’t practice much and it evened out.”

Sheehan said he was happy to be riding competitively again and was looking forward to the remainder of the X-Fighters series.

“When you’re just riding shows you kind of settle down into a bit of a groove and get used to staying comfortable, ” he said.

“Competitive events make you push yourself to become better and the atmosphere and other riders help convince you to go for tricks you might not otherwise do.”

Sheehan is back in Donnybrook for the next six weeks but is slated to perform with Nitro Circus in Perth on May 10.

“Every time Nitro Circus or Crusty Demons have come to Perth I’ve been injured so I’m really looking forward to doing a show at my State’s home capital, ” he said.