The in-form Aussie of the Monster Energy MX Nationals right now is Motul Pirelli Suzuki’s Todd Waters, finishing third in the MX1 class at Conondale’s season opener almost a fortnight ago.

Yesterday saw Waters prove his round one result was no fluke as he raced to the win in Moree’s NSW state title opener against some very serious competition, signaling a strong start to his partnership with Suzuki.

MotoOnline.com.au gave Todd a call this afternoon to find out how he’s feeling about his recent success and what he expects in the rounds to come as he battles for the title.

You were able to finish on the podium at the first round of the Monster Energy MX Nationals behind Ben Townley and Josh Coppins – that must have been a good feeling to start to the season like that for you?

It was definitely where we wanted to be, our main goal was to get on the box each weekend and just be consistent. It feels good to be behind those two world-class riders and to be the first Aussie home was also a bonus as well.

You’ve had a few years experience now on the 450 in the MX1 class, so do you feel like this is the season where you can breakthrough, put it all together and maybe try and battle for this championship?

It’s something that I can’t really answer at the moment. In the previous two years I’ve held the red plate and felt like nothing could go wrong, I felt like I had the championship wrapped up and in the bag, and then I had little mishaps and I’d hurt myself.

Each year I’m developing and I’m learning as an Open rider and I’ve got a great team backing me this year. So at this stage I’m in a good spot for the championship and just have to try and keep it this way.

On the weekend you were able to win the NSW state title round at Moree, that was obviously another step in the right direction for you. How was it yesterday in that race against some of the national guys?

It was good, the track sort of broke apart a bit, but it made for some great racing and it was fairly rough. A few good riders were there, like Jake Moss, Jay Marmont and Tye Simmonds, so it was good to go out and have a hit out, and on a national track as well.

I’m feeling fairly confident, I feel like everything is starting to come together. We’re working on our bikes a bit to get them tuned, but straight off the bat the Suzuki 450 is unreal, so we’re definitely moving forward.

Before we started the interview, you said you were staying at Moree for some further testing with Jay Foreman and the guys at Suzuki. So that’s the plan on the lead up to Coonabarabran?

Leading up to Coonabarabran, Jake Moss and myself went down to Coona on Friday and Saturday and had a ride on the track. I had a few little things I wanted to change, but Jay wasn’t there unfortunately.

So he popped up this week and we’re going to work on a couple of things that I think we can improve on. So yeah, we’ll go from there, feeling really confident going into Coona.

I know you’ve been spending a fair bit of time riding with Jake Moss in the pre-season, you and him both came out firing in the first round. Do you feel like you two have pushed each other and elevated each other during the pre-season?

Yeah we’ve been pushing each other every step of the way, whether it’s at the race or during the week, we’re always pushing each other. It’s great to have someone there who’s willing to push back and isn’t scared to get in there and practice and even get beat or beat me.

So we go into practice during the week with an open mind and it’s great to have a training buddy like that as well.

Awesome, well thanks for the chat and we’ll see you this weekend.

Yeah, thanks a lot.