For many years Tye Simmonds has been recognised as the next big thing in Australian motocross and supercross, finally reaching his goal of racing at the pinnacle of the sport in America last season.

MotoOnline.com.au got in contact with Simmonds this afternoon to find out how it all came about. With a year’s worth of experience in the U.S. under his belt, don’t yet rule out the current national supercross number two as a very real title threat in the upcoming MX Nationals.

Tye Simmonds will form his own program in 2012, riding a Honda CRF450R. Image: Alex Gobert.

Thanks for the chat, Tye. It’s been a whirlwind week, announced to be parting ways with JDR/KTM, but now today the news has surfaced you’ll be on your own team with Honda support. First of all, how’d that come about?

It’s just good for a change, mate. I’ve been with KTM for a lot of years now and with JDR for a few, so it is sad to make the move that I have. But you know, we’re all still getting along very well and it wasn’t like it all went sour. We ended on mutual terms and everyone is still good friends, so I’m pumped about that.

I just wanted to do something on my own, something different, you know? I feel like the last couple of years have been a little bit stale. America was good and I loved it, but yeah, it’s just something new – I’ve got that spark back that I had lost for the last few years.

Today Honda confirmed the deal, that you’ll be riding a CRF450R, so how did that come about, to end up in red?

Well once we parted ways with JDR and KTM last Friday, then made it official this week, we’d been speaking to a few people. Yarrive [Konsky] and all the Honda guys were really interested, sent me a proposal kind of deal.

We went through it and were really happy with what we saw, plus also with Reedy [Chad Reed] running his own team and choosing Honda, I guess that showed it’s definitely a good bike – especially with what he’s done on it in the last year. I was just really looking forward to riding it and getting into the swing of things.

We did a news story with Yarrive this morning and he said that his factory Honda team will be sharing technical information with you, so is that going to be a real benefit for you during the year?

Yeah, for sure, mate. Yarrive has been really good, like if I need information about anything, he’s there. If I do run into a problem then I just have to give him a bell and he’s there. He’s already given me a few things that I need to look out for, things that will suit me and stuff, so he’s been really helpful.

I rode the bike for a little bit yesterday and did a fair bit on it today. Even out of the box they are really, really good bikes, so I’m over the moon with it. I’m really looking forward to testing, because I don’t have long at all, but I feel like I’m flying in under the radar and that’s good. Come round one I don’t know what to expect, so I’m looking forward to that, just seeing where we are at.

It is only early days as you finalise the deal, but what sponsors and support do you have in place right now?

Yeah, like you said, it is only early days, but we are talking to Kenny Wheeler, who is doing my suspension over at Factory Spec. Yarrive and the team are willing to help, plus I have just done a deal with Monza Imports to wear helmets, gear, boots and stuff like that. Also Scott Goggles, I’ll be staying with them and have been with them for a long time. I’m excited to stay with them for another year.

You have a big following and I’ve seen there’s been great amounts on support on Facebook and Twitter, plus the industry seems to be getting right behind you as well, so has that been surprising at all?

It has been very surprising. Once we did the move dad was nervous and I was nervous, but Benny Foster and uncle Pete, Peter Simmonds, were the ones who were backing us. They said everything would be alright and people would come onboard, so I really have to give a big shout out to them and say thank you to them.

Uncle Pete has had a lot to do with this move, plus Benny has been working his butt off to get things sorted. He’s helping me out any way we can. The ball’s starting to roll, so I’m just over the moon at the moment – I didn’t think it’d come together this quick. It’s all going really well so far.

Simmonds will be in the hunt during 2012 despite his 11th hour departure from KTM. Image: Rice Photography.

When you and JDR did decide to split, was it your intention to start your own team, or had you put the feeler out to other teams as well?

Well, being this late in the game just four weeks away, I was just happy to get anything that I could. All the teams are full, they have done their testing and are ready to go, so I was just happy to ride anything at this point – I didn’t even think I’d be able to get bikes. Dad, uncle Pete and I were getting worries that we’d have to buy bikes, but it’s all come together so it’s been really good.

Is this a long term plan for you, I mean, do you plan on trying to build this up as your own program in the future?

Yeah, that would be nice, but my goal is to have a good year this year and get back to America next year. That’s still my goal, even though I left JDR I still want to make that possible.

If not, like you said, maybe next year I can do another deal by myself and go from there. I just need to try get bigger and better. Trying to be on top is the main thing, focusing on winning. I think it’ll look really nice to win on my own deal and do that.

To finish, we’re one month out from round one. What can we expect from Tye Simmonds at Conondale on 1 April?

Ah, it’s really hard to say at the moment. I feel really good on the bike and you know, like I just said, my goal is to win. I’m just going to get this first round out of the road, see how the bike feels and see where we’re at. I think it’s going to be a really good move and I’ll get a feel for it at round one.

Like I said, we’ll just test and progress. We might have some issues at round one with the suspension or with the track, or we might go out and blitz it – it’s just unknown at this moment. I’ll do all the riding between now and then, which isn’t long, then just go from there, mate.