Chris Seaton proved a revelation aboard the Trinder Brothers Aprilia at Queensland Raceway.

Trinder Brothers Racing owner and principal Steve Trinder has provided a glowing endorsement of new recruit Chris Seaton following the experienced rider’s unexpected FX Nationals win at last weekend’s fourth round of the Australian FX-Superbike Championship at Queensland Raceway.

With over 12 months away from racing, Seaton came into the event with few expectations, only having had a brief test session on the Aprilia RSV4 before rain cut the team’s plans short.

Despite this, the former international was fast from the outset, snaring a top four position in qualifying, just 0.478s off polesitter Kevin Curtain.

The real revelation, however, came in the races. Seaton finished race one in a solid second, snaring the fastest lap. His progress continued as he beat Broc Parkes to the line for a win in race two, and backed up the stellar showing with second in race three.

The results handed Seaton the overall round win, an outcome that delighted Trinder given the relative infancy of the new signing.

“When you consider Chris has been off a bike for over a year now, he did an amazing job for us,” said Trinder. “He had only ran 12 laps on the bike in a private test that was damp before being completely rained out before Friday practice.

“To think he was almost done with the sport as he had been unable to secure a ride would have been a tragedy for the series.

“Chris brings international experience to the team and has a great feel for the bike, more importantly he can communicate well which enables us to tailor the bike around his aggressive riding style.”

Seaton, too, was pleased with his early run of fine form with his new team.

“The Trinder Aprilia team has given me a great opportunity, they have a wealth of experience and run a professional show and I really like the bike,” he said.

“The win on Saturday felt good and I was happy to give that to the team, so we were off to a good start.”

A reversal of fortunes on Sunday saw Seaton crash out of the opening FX-SBK race, with the flow-on effects proving costly as the day continued.

Both team and rider come away with a positive mindset, and with further testing prior to the fifth round, should be a force within the FX-SBK ranks once more.