For a few years now, Dylan Peterson has been recognised as one of Australia’s top rising talents in the Under 19s category of the MX Nationals, Australian Motocross Championship.

But for the upcoming 2012 season, the 19-year-old Queenslander will step up to the MX1 class aboard a Kawasaki KX450F, pitted out of the Wilsons Racing transporter.

Peterson finished fourth in the Under 19s class outdoors last year with the highlight being an overall win at Raymond Terrace, however he’s now focused on taking on some of the world’s best in the premier class despite heavy work commitments away from the track.

Queensland up and comer Dylan Peterson is on a Kawasaki for the 2012 season.

“I’ve only ever raced on a Lites bike and I’ve always struggled with good starts, so that’s one of the reasons I’m on the 450 for this year,” Peterson told MotoOnline.

“I’m a full privateer now, so it’s definitely good on the budget having a 450 instead of developing a 250. I’ve only got one bike at the moment, so hopefully we make it last the season.”

It’s been over six months since we’ve seen Peterson race at the national level as he sat out last year’s Australian Supercross Championship, which was largely due to not having enough time to prepare at the level required for supercross.

“I just wasn’t too happy with how I was riding last year, so I just didn’t want to continue on not being happy with how I was riding,” he explained. “I couldn’t do anything about it because I had a job and worked close to 10-hour days, but to do supercross it’s pretty much a full time job.

“You need to be riding three or four times a week on different tracks. It was hard working and trying to squeeze in riding. I like to do things good or not do them at all.”

After spending the entire off-season riding a 450, Peterson says he’s feeling right at home on it and is enjoying his time riding the larger capacity bike to date.

“I got the new bike and practiced a fair bit, just on the weekends, and I didn’t lose any speed, which is good,” he said. “I’m basically putting my bike in with the Wilsons Racing team, pitting with them at the races.

Peterson is taking it one race at a time as a rookie in the MX1 class.

“A lot of the tracks suit me this year, so we’ll see how it goes because I haven’t ridden competitively for a long time. It’s a no pressure situation for me.”

With a world class field set for the outdoors in the MX1 class, Peterson isn’t certain what to expect come round one at Conondale in Queensland, simply aiming to focus on his own efforts and see what the outcome is on Sunday, 1 April.

“Now I’m still working 10-hour days, but I’m spending my whole weekend riding and training,” he said. “We’ll just see how the first round goes and I have no expectations. Maybe I could squeeze into the top 10 and move forward throughout, but it’s definitely a tough class.”

With time on his side and no pressure on him, look for Peterson to gain strength with experience as the season continues throughout 2012. Peterson’s 2012 race program is supported by Jetpilot, JT Racing, Ride 4, M2R, Sidi, Charlie Costanzo, John Titman Racing and Briman.