Mitch Evans has his sights set on a successful rookie campaign in the Motul MX Nationals MX2 category after joining the Serco Yamaha squad for 2017.

After clinching the 2016 Motul MX Nationals MXD championship with the Yamalube Yamaha Racing development outfit, Evans admits he was unsure of his future before his recent signing with the Queensland-based team.

“I’m stoked to be staying with Yamaha and continuing my relationship with them,” Evans told MotoOnline.com.au. “I didn’t sign with them until really late, so it was a bit scary at the end of last year because we weren’t sure whether I was going to have a ride or not.

“We haven’t done too much testing just yet, the team just sent me a bike and I’ve been riding heaps. I’m going to head down for some testing soon.”

Although spending two years in the MXD class wasn’t the initial plan, the 18-year-old believes he has matured during that time and is now ready to make the move to the MX2 category.

“I’m definitely excited for it,” said Evans. “I didn’t want to spend two years in MXD, that’s just what happened, but I think I needed to do that anyway, just to mature a little bit.

“I’m happy to be finally stepping up with the big boys. I know it’s going to be a big step and I’m going to train a lot harder. I’ve been getting into it lately and it’s been good not having to worry about going to school anymore.”

With his final year of schooling out of the way, the Queenslander will enter 2017 with the opportunity to focus solely on motocross for the first time in his young career.

“It actually feels unusual knowing that I can put motocross first,” he explained. “I can just go riding any day I want, or go away any weekend I want to now. It’s definitely a lot better and I’m looking forward to the challenge this year.”

Making his Motocross of Nations debut in 2016, Evans returned with a new outlook on the sport, which helped motivated him to improve his program heading into the new year.

“I was really lucky to go to Italy and race for Australia,” he said. “I didn’t do the best, but it definitely opened my eyes up to see just how fast and fit everyone is over there.

“I now know I can do a lot more back here to make my weekends easier, just seeing how much work they put in to be at that level. I know that we can step up our level of speed and competition back here in Australia.”

Working with his new and improved program, the factory Yamaha MX2 contender has his sights set on claiming the MX2 title in his rookie season and plans to release a video in the near future showing exactly what he will be doing to give himself the best chance possible of doing so.

“I’m feeling really good so far, I’ve actually dropped a lot of weight and that’s helped me on the bike,” he added. “I also have a video segment that will be coming out soon, so if you keep a look out for it you’ll be able to see exactly what I do every day. It’s what I think it will take to be competitive this year and go for the championship.

“Everyone says that nobody can win MX2 in their first year out of the MXD class, but everyone says that until someone does it. So that’s obviously my goal, a lot of people will doubt me, but I’m out to prove them wrong.”

Evans will make his Motul MX Nationals MX2 debut on 2 April at Wonthaggi in Victoria for the first round of the 2017 series.