Honda/Red Bull/Simmonds Racing Team’s Tye Simmonds has revealed that having a large international contingent in the Australian Motocross Championship could make him rise to a new level in 2012, striving to keep the MX1 number one plate on home soil.

Simmonds recently split with JDR Motorsports and KTM to forge his own privateer effort, and knows that the 2012 season will be the most competitive on record when it kicks off this Sunday at Conondale in Queensland.

“This year in Australia is going to be one of the biggest we’ve had,” Simmonds said. “You’ve got Brad Anderson, [Ben] Townley, [Josh] Coppins, Jay [Marmont]’s still going to be there, you’ve got [Daniel] McCoy and it’s definitely not going to be a walk in the park.

“It’s not going to be an easy year, that’s for sure. It makes you want to try a lot harder and keep the Aussie title in Australia. For me, to win an Open championship would be great.

“I still haven’t done it and it’s something that I really want to accomplish this year. We’re going to work towards that and see how we go.”

After a year in the U.S. last year with JDR/KTM, Simmonds has opted to go the privateer route this year, and admits that he’s facing a race against time to be 100 percent ready for the opener.

“It’s still coming together. I definitely would have loved to have another two or three weeks, just to prepare and get ready – it’s all a very last minute thing,” he said. “It’s all coming along, Red Bull are helping me out a bunch, I can’t thank them enough.

“Factory Spec suspension is doing a lot of work with the bike, trying to get that dialled 100 percent, and yeah, just trying to get motors and stuff done. It’s all the little stuff that being on a team, I never really realised how much went into it.

“I hang around a lot with Daniel McCoy, but when I was on a team and he was privateer, it didn’t really look that hard. It’s not until you go privateer that you realise how much is in it.

“The last couple of weeks have really opened my eyes and it’s just the littlest stuff that makes a difference. I took it for granted, for years. It’s a cool experience, but definitely has been hard.

“I don’t have enough time before the first round, but what we’ve got, we’re going to make the best of it.”

In the AMA last year, Simmonds finished the series ranked 17th overall, his best moto result of the year coming at Spring Creek in the first race, where he was ninth.

Simmonds finished second in last year’s Australian Supercross Championship behind defending four-time MX Nationals champion Jay Marmont.