Coming straight off the back of an impressive 2012 Monster Energy MX Nationals campaign where he finished second overall in the MX1 class, Motul Pirelli Suzuki’s Todd Waters set off to Belgium for the 2012 FIM Motocross of Nations.

Waters, along with teammates Lawson Bopping and Luke Styke, laid down solid and consistent results in the sands of Lommel, to bring home a 10th place overall finish for our country.

MotoOnline.com.au caught up with the 21-year-old today to speak about his MXoN experience, the upcoming ASX series and his plans for 2013.

Todd Waters moved his way up to fifth position in one moto at Lommel. Image: Adam Riemann.

You just returned from your Motocross of Nations debut where Team Australia finished up in 10th place overall. How was that experience as a whole for you?

The racing was what I expected, but I was unaware of pretty much the atmosphere and how the whole thing runs.It is just an amazing event, the whole thing runs to the second, event wise.

To go into the starting line with such a massive crowd is amazing. You see pictures of it and you see videos of it, but the actually be there, to be racing and to hear the crowd while you race, it’s just something crazy. I really enjoyed that part of it and the experience of going overseas and racing was sweet, it was awesome.

On such a tricky circuit like Lommel, did you find it hard to get comfortable in such a short amount of time with an unfamiliar bike?

Well I was pretty excited to know that I worked myself up into fifth place, but unfortunately on a last lap incident cost me a couple of places. But to be able to go from 25th to fifth at the Des Nations, it’s pretty cool to know I’ve got a lot more left in the tank. Just simply because I was on an unfamiliar bike and I didn’t really feel very comfortable out there.

Hats off to Suzuki, the bike was unreal, but you just can’t prepare yourself to go overseas and ride a totally different track with a couple days of riding. That side of things I was really happy with, I know if I go back and I could settle in, I could get some good results.

I think the whole experience for me was good, I went over there not expecting anything to great. I just wanted to go over there and get some experience, do my first Des Nations and I’ve definitely got the bug to go back. So I’m working on trying to get over there and race in the future.

Heading into the Australian Supercross Championships, you are pressed for time to prepare. How are you going so far with that?

Well at the moment I’m just sleeping (laughs), we only got back yesterday and I’m jet-lagged as hell today. So I’ll just have today off and then I’ll get into supercross. That’s all I can do really, like you say, I’m running out of time and I’ve just got to do the best that I can with the time that I’ve got.

Waters is in talks with Suzuki and an unknown party for 2013. Image: Simon Makker/Makkreative.com.

What are your thoughts on the all-new ASX series heading to new locations and bringing back the traditional 20-lap main format?

Definitely, the 20-lap mains is on par with the rest of the world. That’s one thing that the Australian riders struggled with over at the Des Nations.

How can we be expected to ride 35 minutes at a high intensity pace? Where we can’t even do that here. The guys over there race it week in, week out. They do that format, tons and for years and years they have done that format. We go over there and the first-time we’ve ever raced it is at the Des Nations.

So it’s kind of a sad thing like that, but I’m excited for supercross since they’ve gone to that format. It just makes it a bit easier for the riders if they do want to travel overseas and make something of themselves. It makes life that little bit easier getting used to the formats and it’s not a big shock to the system.

What are your plans and expectations heading into the ASX series?

What my goal at the moment is, is to try and get on that podium every weekend. That’s what my goal was in motocross and I’m chasing the same goal in supercross. If I can just go there and get some good points and try to land myself on the podium each weekend, I’ll be happy.

Finally, can you tell us anything about where we could see you in 2013?

We’re getting closer with our deal, but we’re just working with Suzuki to try and get a deal. There is another party involved, but we’ll just wait and see how that turns out.