Todd Waters has the opportunity to kickstart his international career in 2013 with his new KTM ride. Image: Simon Makker/Makkreative.com.

Current Australian motocross number two Todd Waters is certain that the current crop of rising domestic racers have what it takes to perform on the world stage.

After a breakout 2012 season, Waters has his sights set on an international career, starting off on the FIM Motocross World Championship circuit.

Waters, 22, had his first taste of Europe as part of the 2012 Australian MXoN team and will now have the opportunity to race more selected GPs in 2013 since signing for KTM’s all-new Australian factory effort.

The Gold Coaster believes Australian riders are competitive enough to take on the world’s best, determined to make his mark on an international level in coming seasons.

“I’m not content to just run as the number one guy in Australia,” Waters revealed to MotoOnline this week. “My main goal now is to go to Europe within a couple years, and the MXoN has only made me hungrier to get back there.

“The MXoN was an eye-opening experience for sure. It made me realise that yeah, the top handful of guys are insanely fast, but the rest are only human and it’s not unrealistic to battle with them.”

Waters gained a big boost in confidence as he moved from 25th to fifth in the sands of Lommel, working his was past American MX2 contender Blake Baggett in the process. It was that event where Waters realised the option to race overseas is a very realistic one.

“I proved that when I came from 25th to pass Blake Baggett for fifth in one of my races,” he added. “I made a mistake on the last straight and both Baggett and Justin Barcia passed me before the finish, but it gave me a lot of confidence, especially as I was riding a borrowed bike and those guys had their race bikes shipped over.

“I think it really showed the level we’re riding at the moment now, and even though I was pissed at getting passed at the end, I think that was the best race of my life.”

Dean Ferris currently stands as Australia’s lone GP regular with Monster Energy Yamaha in the MX2 class for 2013, however the past has seen the likes of Andrew McFarlane, Chad Reed and Jeff Leisk all battle for championships on the world stage, to name a few.

Fittingly, Leisk proved instrumental in securing Waters’ return to the Austrian KTM brand for next season.

For the complete Catching Up interview with Waters, click here.