After winning the Australian Supersport Championship last season, 18-year-old Queenslander Troy Guenther has secured a prized ride with Next Gen Motorsports for his 2017 premier class campaign. CycleOnline.com.au contacted Guenther to gather his thoughts on a range of topics after he was 13th fastest in the recent Phillip Island test.

Image: Keith Muir.

Signing with Next Gen Motorsports…

Signing with the Next Gen Motorsports team is very exciting for me. After winning the Supersport title last year, the next step for me signing with Next Gen on the BMW is really, really good for me because of the results they’ve had in the past, winning two Australian Superbike Championships with BMW machinery. Even in testing they’ve been able to overlay data from me and their previous riders, so it’s really exciting. I just can’t wait to get out on the track for round one.

First impressions of the BMW S 1000 RR superbike…

I started on the HP4, so that was the only thing I really have to compare it to, but when I hopped on the S 1000 RR I felt the improvements in the mid-corner – the front-end is a lot better – and the electronics package is next level as well. There’s a lot of potential in what we can do from here on it too.

The official ASBK test at Phillip Island…

That was pretty good. It was the first time I really had the chance to get out on track with everyone in the Superbike category, so yeah, my goal was to try and do a 34 and get inside the top 10. We were a little bit off of that, but there’s a lot of positives we can draw. Heading into the race, I’ve really got my eye on what I need to do and achieve, but all in all I’m really happy. If we can keep moving forward in the same direction, by round one we’ll be in very good shape.

Source: Supplied.

Expectations entering the 2017 season…

I’d like to start the season at Phillip Island by hopefully qualifying in the top 10 and then hopefully racing inside the top eight. From there we can build on that and the more time I spend on the Superbike, the more we can get ahead. Phillip Island is the only track in the ASBK that we go to twice, so when we go back later this year – not just at Phillip Island, but the last half of the season – I want to try be consistently inside the top five and try to fight for podium finishes.

ASBK’s expanded mixture of talent…

Yeah, definitely. Looking at the entries, there’s around 40 riders for round one and it’s not just the quantity, but the quality also. It’s going to be a really, really strong year and, I think, for me being only 18 years old I’m the youngest guy in the field. It will be really good to have such quality riders to learn from and develop, so I’m glad I came into it for this year.