JASON Doyle says he is carrying no mental scars from his horror crash late last year ahead of his second season as Swindon Robins skipper.

Doyle saw his quest to be crowned world champion for the first time cut short by a sickening fall in the penultimate round of the Speedway Grand Prix Series in Torun, Poland, last October.

The 31-year-old Australian was forced to undergo shoulder and elbow surgery over the winter but is back fighting fit for 2017 and returned to the scene of the accident last weekend to ride in Poland’s best pairs competition.

Doyle began the 2016 season having fought back from a neck injury and he admits it is often much tougher to recover mentally than physically from serious injuries.

“Everything is good now but the last four months have been difficult to get back to full fitness,” said Doyle. “All of my bones are healed and I have got no metalwork now so it’s time to move forward and I am enjoying racing again.

“The main thing is to be 100 per cent ready to get back on a bike. Physically fit was not going to be the issue, it was going to be mental.

“It wasn’t as mentally challenging as the crash I had in Melbourne the year before to come back from where I had a broken neck. Darcy (Ward) was in the same situation, so to realise I could have been in the same boat was pretty hard to deal with.

“This year was a little bit easier and it was nice to get Torun out of the way on Saturday and go back to a track where I did have a near-death experience, get back on a bike and ride well.”

Doyle concedes his crash brought home just how much riders put at risk every time they go racing.

“When we are riding so many times a week, you think everything is slow, but when you come off at 120km an hour into a fence, you realise that it is a lot faster than you thought,” said Doyle.

After a stunning 2016, Doyle has the highest average of any rider for the new SGB Premiership season and the Robins have had to use up a hefty 13.41 of their points allowance to get him into their team.

Although Swindon’s fortunes will largely rest on his ability to score heavily in every meeting, Doyle has no problem shouldering the responsibility.

Doyle said: “I like a little bit of pressure. I know I have to score good points to push the team forward. It is my job to get as many points as possible.”