ASBK champion Josh Waters in action for FIXI Crescent Suzuki at Motorland Aragon.

Two-time Australian Superbike Champion Josh Waters is knocking on the door of a fulltime seat in the Superbike World Championship, taking part in a three-day test with FIXI Crescent Suzuki at Aragon in Spain last week.

Waters eased into the test with the 10th quickest lap overall, his 2:00.9 just over three seconds off Tom Sykes’ leading time of 1:57.6. Still, Waters was upbeat after the test and hopes to join Leon Camier fulltime in 2013.

“I only got the call to come here last Friday night and it was a bit of a surprise, but a really good one,” Waters explained. “I’ve never been to this track before, so I began learning which way round it went.

“At the same time I worked on understanding the FIXI Crescent Suzuki, which is so different to the Suzuki I race in Australia. Riding this bike makes my Aussie Suzuki feel like a street bike!

“I’m very grateful for this opportunity and would like to thank the team for all their hard work and support over the three days. Like all racers, I would’ve liked to have gone faster, but conditions this afternoon didn’t allow that.

“Nevertheless, I’ve really enjoyed myself and the experience I’ve gained with these guys is invaluable.”

Three days of good weather allowed top teams from Aprilia, Kawasaki, Ducati and Suzuki to test at the Motorland Aragon circuit, evaluating the 17-inch Pirelli tyres that will be the new regulation size for 2013.

Fastest rider of all was Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) matching his day two best of 1:57.6 again on the final day. The next best rider was Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing), two tenths of a second behind.

The teams started out on 16.5 inch rims on the first day, Monday, before moving to the 17s, with Leon Camier (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) scoring the quickest time on day one, then Sykes going faster than all others on day two and then again on the final day.

The morning session of the third day was disturbed after Carlos Checa’s Althea Racing Ducati Panigale 1199RS locked up on the start-finish straight.

The bike lost oil into the track surface for most of the straight, causing a long delay as it was cleaned up. He would not improve on his best time after this problem, and having previously set a 1:58.5.

On the re-start most riders found it difficult to improve on their previous best, simply because of a strong headwind down the long back straight.

Michel Fabrizio had his first ride on the Red Devils Roma Aprilia at this test.