Josh Waters Storms his Way to Pole Position
23 February, 2018
Reigning YMI Superbike Champion, Josh Waters (Team Suzuki ECSTAR, GSX-R1000R) will start his title defence from the front of the grid, at the opening race of the 2018 Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul Pirelli (ASBK). Smashing his way to the top-spot in qualifying at Phillip Island today, in wet conditions.
The YMI Superbike riders were greeted to an already wet track, but conditions began to take a usual Island turn with rainfall increasing steadily. That didn’t stop a battle ensuing between the classes’ elite riders for the number one grid slot.
The ‘rain master’ of the day went to Waters, as he set the fastest lap of 1:43.676, which ended up being .928s faster than second place getter and rival, Wayne Maxwell (Yamaha Racing Team, Yamaha YZF-R1M). Waters and Maxwell are both Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit specialists, so we can expect fireworks as these two take off from the start line for tomorrow’s race.
Waters sharing; “Very happy to be on pole position, it’s still going to be very hard tomorrow though! It’s great to be cutting laps out there with Australia’s best in all conditions. Huge thanks to the team and we’ll try our hardest. I think everyone was cautious towards the end when the rain really came down.”
Maxwell commenting; “Really happy to get p2 on the grid. Unfortunately, I caught traffic on my fastest lap, but it happens to everyone. I’m really happy with the way the Yamaha and the crew are performing. Looking forward to racing tomorrow.”
There was a collective cheer from the crowd when they saw Troy Bayliss (Desmosport Ducati, Ducati Panigale R FE) post the third fastest time, to earn a front row grid slot.
“I think that was my first ride in the rain in ten years,” Bayliss quipped. “It took a while to get a feel for the bike in the conditions but I eventually got comfortable. If you concentrate it’s actually physically easier on the body in the wet conditions. It’s a great spot for tomorrow’s race and Sunday.”
Behind Bayliss, came last year’s Round 1 winner, Daniel Falzon (Yamaha Racing Team, Yamaha YZF-R1). Falzon finished 1.735s from pole, while 2016 YMI Superbike Champion, Troy Herfoss completed the top five, a further 2.311s back from pole.
Despite the wet conditions spreading out the gaps between the competitors, picking a winner for tomorrow’s race will be a difficult task.
It’s all setup for a tantalising battle tomorrow with Australia’s best road racing talent battling it out. The lights are scheduled to go out on race one of the 2018 ASBK championship at 16:40 PM local time on Saturday at Phillip Island.
Top Ten YMI Superbike Provisional Qualifying Positions
1. Josh WATERS (Team Suzuki ECSTAR Australia, Suzuki GSX-R1000R) 1:43.676
2. Wayne MAXWELL (Yamaha Racing Team, Yamaha YZF-R1M) 1:44.604
3. Troy BAYLISS (Desmosport Ducati, Ducati Panigale R FE) 1:45.093
4. Daniel FALZON (Yamaha Racing Team, Yamaha YZF-R1M) 1:45.411
5. Troy HERFOSS (Penrite Honda, Honda CBR1000RR SP) 1:45.987
6. Michael BLAIR (Yamaha, Yamaha YZF-R1) 1:46.509
7. Glenn ALLERTON (NextGen Motorsports, BMW S1000RR) 1:46.932
8. Mitchell REES (Carl Cox M-sport, Honda CBR1000) 1:48.359
9. Aaron MORRIS (Maxima Yamaha, Yamaha YZF-R1) 1:49.150
10. Matt WALTERS (Swann Insurance, Kawasaki ZX-10R) 1:49.192