From the sand of the Dakar Rally, to the dirt of ProMX to the burning rubber of the Australian Superbikes, there’s a host of .
The dominant performance of Josh Waters during the opening round of the Australian Superbike Championship at Phillip Island wasn’t a fluke. It was a well-calculated effort of preparation and determination that helped the Mildura-based rider take a clean sweep of pole position, a new lap record and three race wins across the weekend.
Waters joined the Ducati-supported McMartin Racing outfit prior to the penultimate round of last year’s championship at the very same venue and has since replaced Wayne Maxwell as its main rider. After a strong pre-season and opening round performance, Waters was naturally over the moon.
“Obviously it was quite a good weekend to get the pole lap record and the outright lap record, which was faster than the pole record itself” he told SBS Sport. “But to win all three races puts us in a good position heading into round two at Sydney Motorsport Park. Obviously, there’s still seven rounds to go but it’s the best way to get off to a good start.”
Waters has credited his recent success to his family, who have been extremely supportive over the last few years during a difficult period where stints at Kawasaki and BMW were less than successful.
“I’m so glad I didn’t throw the towel in,” Waters said. “I just kept chipping away. I have to say thanks to those who have stuck by me, especially my family. So, it’s a big thank you to them for standing by me.”
![DSC_0557[1].jpg](https://images.sbs.com.au/62/48/b6a94eb240eabd92c3c28bc940a8/dsc-05571.jpg?imwidth=1280)
Josh Waters chats with ASBK's Kate Peck after winning the third race of the Australian Superbike Championship at Phillip Island. Photo: Motorcycling Australia
“Wayne’s been in my corner ever since I joined the team,” Waters said. “He’s fresh coming off winning a lot of races in the last few years, so his guidance and experience has helped a lot in that success.”
With a full bag of points collected from the opening weekend of the year, Waters leads the Australian Superbike Championship on 76 points, 23 clear of Honda’s Troy Herfoss and 2022 defending champion, Yamaha’s Mike Jones. The teams will now head to Sydney Motorsport Park in one month’s time on March 24-25 for a historic second round of the championship held under lights.
You can catch all the action from round two live on SBS VICELAND from 7pm (AEDT) and SBS On Demand, with a full replay shown the next day on SBS from 1pm (AEDT). You can also catch up with all the action from
