VIDEO: Elliott Banks-Browne: Injury, rehab and Resurgence
By Team TMX on 9th Jul 15
A motocross riders life tends to swing between the highs of competing and if youre as talented as Elliott Banks-Browne winning, and the lows of injury, pain and rehab. Crashes lurk around every corner, with very few riders making it through their careers without suffering a scar or three.
In February of this year, Elliott broke his leg - like, badly broke his leg - while riding in the British Arenacross Series in Glasgow. Rather than suffer in solitude and silence as he fought his way back to fitness, Elliott called some his filmmaker friends and shot ‘Resurgence'. It's the story of his months of rehab before finally getting back to racing, which he did a few weeks ago at the Blaxhall Pits rounds of the British Motocross Championship.
Watch 'Resurgence: Part One' in the video above - then read our exclusive interview with Elliott below.
So Elliott, your injury must have been pretty bad to put you out for so long. Talk us through the crash that led to you making ‘Resurgence'.
So this year, I'd gone in for the British Arenacross Series. It started off a bit rough, but I was getting better and better, week by week. We went to Newcastle and I won, which was a big release.
Then I went to Glasgow the weekend after on February 7, full of confidence and ready to go. They do a head-to-head in Arenacross where it's just you racing against another guy for championship points, and I was up against the championship leader, Thomas Ramette [an appropriate name, as it turned out...]. I passed him on the first corner and I guess he didn't like it very much because he T-boned me. My leg was in the wrong place at the wrong time and I broke the tibia and the fibula.
The funny thing was that I didn't go down; I went through the whoops section, then looked down and saw my leg was facing the wrong way, and I thought ‘Oh *&%$'. Eventually, I had a rod put into the tibia and that was how it was left really.
Where did the motivation to shoot ‘Resurgence' come from?
I just wanted to share my journey a bit. I wanted it to be relevant for everyone, not just motocross riders. Most people can relate to being injured and what it takes to get back, so it was nice to be able to show people that journey and what I've had to go through along the way. I spoke to Red Bull and they thought it was a good idea, so we made it happen. I think it came out pretty good - and then part two will be me getting back on the bike and back out there, so watch out for that!
How did this injury rank alongside the others from your career?
It's definitely the worst I've ever had. I've had broken hands, broken collarbones, done my shoulder, done some ribs, but nothing to the extent of this. This was a pretty serious injury and one that can put you out for a long time. Luckily I've been in the right hands and was able to get back a lot sooner than people expected. Four months for a broken tib and fib is not such bad going. Most people thought my season was pretty much finished.
So what's been the rehab process for you?
Well I sat around for a week and a bit moping around, thinking it was the end of the world. Then I called my trainer and said ‘I can't sit watching TV any longer'. So I got back in the gym and for the first three weeks, all we could do was upper body stuff. As long as I could sit down or lie on a bench, I was alright and I could do all that sort of stuff.
On about week four, I got on my static bicycle and just spun out a little bit. Then I got on my road bike when I could spin my legs out of the clips - because I didn't want to be at a traffic light and fall over! After that I was doing loads of miles, out on the bicycle every single day and I think that's what really helped the healing. I was hardly able to walk, but I could ride a bicycle, and that built the muscle back up pretty quickly.
So you were back racing in the British Motocross Championship a few weekends ago. How did that go?
That was my first outdoor race for nine months, so it had been a long time coming. It was at Blaxhall Pits, which is my local race and the first time they've had the British Championship there, so it was an awesome atmosphere and everyone was there, supporting me.
I think my results were pretty good, although in the first race I had a slide off and broke my front brake lever. But then in the second race I finished 10th and I was eighth in the last race. My speed was good as well, I finished third in qualifying and I should have been a bit higher up. It was just a lack of base fitness. But I've got to build from there now. It was just good to get the racing nerves out the way, and get behind a gate again.
