Current ASBK number four Scott Charlton will make is racing return with Team Suzuki in WA. Image: TBG Sport/Andrew Gosling.

Current Australian Superbike Championship number four Scott Charlton is poised to make a shock return to national racing when he replaces Josh Waters at Team Suzuki for the Barbagallo round in Western Australia on 29 April-1 May.

Suzuki Australia general manager, Motorcycles, Perry Morison confirmed the news to CycleOnline.com.au at yesterday’s national launch for the GSX-R600 and GSX-R750, Charlton set to take over Waters’ factory Ohil Tainton Racing-prepared GSX-R1000.

Darwin winner Waters will skip WA’s return to the ASBK title chase in favour of taking part in an official AMA SuperBike test at Miller Motorsport Park in Utah, riding a Rockstar Makita Suzuki that Yoshimura USA campaigns in the States.

Waters and Yoshimura are using the test to give him track time in the lead-up to next month’s World Superbike round at the same venue, where Waters will take park in his second outing of the season for Yoshimura Suzuki’s Japanese squad.

“As it’s worked out there’s a test in the U.S. because Yoshimura confirmed a while back that they wanted Josh to ride with them again in the Miller round of World Superbike,” Morison said.

“This AMA test’s timing isn’t great, because it’s just about impossible for Josh to race in Perth and then get back to America to Utah – he’d miss too much of the test. So we made the decision that we were going to get him to the test, because then he gets to ride the Yoshimura U.S. Superbike again and also learn the track.

“For Scotty it’s a reward for all of his and Racers Edge’s efforts last year when they finished their debut ASBK season in fourth. From our point of view it just makes sense that we have an absolutely top quality guy who knows the bikes backwards, and he’s very comfortable on the GSX-R1000.

“It makes sense for us to bring him into the team and I reckon he’s a great replacement rider.”

Charlton and Racers Edge Performance Racing were forced out of the series this season due to a lack of funding, with his return to racing scheduled for the Barbagallo round alongside the V8 Supercars in the first two-plus-four event of 2011.