Team Suzuki Australia's Josh Waters talks about the off-season, fun on his DR-Z; and looking forward to the upcoming Australian Superbike series that kicks off at Phillip Island later this month.

This year I'm back with Team Suzuki and racing the Australian Superbike Championships on the new GSX-R1000, which I'm really looking forward to.

2011 ended great for me and Team Suzuki; setting new lap records, winning races and the best thing of all - winning Championships. The end of the year really started to feel like the 'old me' had returned before the 2010 crash, so that was really good! I'd love to keep that ball rolling and moving into 2012 season.

In the off season I've had a really good time, kicking back, having a lot of fun on the river which has been great. The weather down here in my home town of Mildura, Victoria has been very hot and sunny which is another good thing. Just before Christmas, my brother Brodie - my team-mate riding the GSX-R600 in the Supersport class for Team Suzuki - and I got early presents from Suzuki:  The DR-Z125Ls are now our new favourite toys!

We are lucky enough to have a great little dirt track out the back of our parent's house so we have started our own DR-Z World Championship. Brodie leads the Championship at the moment by 5 points, but it's not over yet as I'm not going to let him have it that easy!

The Australian Superbike season kicks off in less than two weeks time: Our first round is at the 2012 Superbike World Championship opener on February 26th at Phillip Island and I'm really looking forward to it. I'll try hard and see what happens!

Take care and I look forward to filling everyone in with more news at the half-way stage of my Championship.