Tye Simmonds will join the Berry Sweet/Lucas Oil/Yamaha team for 2013. Image: Grant Reynolds/FiftySix Clix.

Craig Anderson Racing has officially confirmed that Tye Simmonds will join the Berry Sweet/Lucas Oil/Yamaha team for the 2013 season aboard a YZ450F.

After spending a season riding for his very own privateer team, Honda/Red Bull/Simmonds Racing, the move back to the support of an established team will be a welcome one for Simmonds.

Joining forces for the new year with his longtime friend Craig Anderson as team owner, the talented 20-year-old will contest both the 2013 outdoor and supercross series in Australia.

“Obviously I’ve gotten on pretty good with Ando,” Simmonds told MotoOnline.com.au. “Even when I first turned pro he was the only person that would ever talk to me about anything and he’s always been like that – all the other riders would tell you the same.

“So we’ve just sort of been talking a little bit about him trying to do something for this year, but we’d already done something with Honda. We kept in touch and we’ve been talking in the last couple of months about a deal and he’s pretty excited and keen. So yeah, we finally got it done.”

Simmonds will also head to Perth for select events as the team’s title sponsor, Berry Sweet, is based in the Western Australian capital.

“We’ll be doing both motocross and supercross and I’ll obviously do a few things over in Perth, being that’s where the main sponsor Berry Sweet is,” he added. “Also we’ve got the state titles and stuff like that, so we’ll be doing a fair bit of racing that’s for sure.

“At this point it’s just a one-year deal, but depending on how we go with my results and stuff, we might extend that for sure.”

Team owner and retiring Pro Open competitor Anderson looks forward to the two parties coming together for the new year in a deal that has been a long time coming.

“I spoke to Tye a little while ago, actually when he first left JDR I spoke to Tye and his dad about coming to ride for me back then, so he’d be riding for me this year,” said Anderson. “But he ended up going with Hondas and he’s done his own thing.

“So I just kept in touch with them all year and I knew that he was looking for a ride for next year. A month ago he came to test my bike and liked it, so we just kept in touch trying to put it all together.

“We’ve come up to an agreement on the weekend and signed him up, so we’re really looking forward to next year. I think Tye has a lot of talent and a lot of skills, in the right direction, he could go and win races.”

Simmonds will complete the 2012 Australian Supercross Championships aboard his Honda, before making the switch to the Yamaha in preparation for round one of the 2013 outdoor season.