Swann Insurance Kawasaki press release:

Swann Insurance-supported Kawasaki racer Matt Walters kicked off his weekend at Morgan Park on a positive note after qualifying in ninth position in the Superbike category for the fifth round of the 2017 Australian Superbike Championship.

Aboard his privateer Kawasaki ZX-10R, Walters lodged a time of 1m14.108s ahead of Sunday’s two-race format, where a series of unfortunate events saw his round five hopes slip away.

Following a positive start to the round, in the end it was a combination of technical issues and a fall in race two that would deny Walters the chance to finish either of Sunday’s races and forcing him to log an unfortunate dual DNF result.

“Throughout the weekend the guys on my team did everything I asked,” said Walters. “We progressed forward a lot with the bike and my riding and we got inside the top 10 for qualifying.

“In the first race we had a bit of an electrical gremlin with the bike and we couldn’t really do much about that. The guys did the best they could and got it fixed and together again, which was great.

“I had an unlucky fall in the second race on the first lap – I just got caught out by the new tyre. That was a bit of a rookie error, but I’ve just got to take that on the chin and move forward.”
Although disappointed with his overall result, Walters looks to move forward and steer his focus towards a favoured Sydney Motorsport Park circuit for round six of the series on 8-10 September.

“Obviously it’s a very disappointing weekend for us and a bit of a kick in the guts, but Eastern Creek has been a good place to me and we’ve always had good results there,” he explained. “We’ll go out with a full head of steam and just charge on.”

Walters now drops from 11th to 13th overall in the premier class rankings with two events remaining on the seven-round ASBK schedule, however will enter the Sydney weekend with confidence on his side at what is his home round of the series.

Round six of the 2017 Australian Superbike Championship will take place at Sydney Motorsport Park in New South Wales on 8-10 September. Like Matt Walters Racing on Facebook and visit www.asbk.com.au for further information on the series.