Swann Insurance Kawasaki press release:

Swann Insurance Kawasaki’s Matt Walters made continued progress in the premier category at Sydney Motorsport Park’s sixth round of the 2017 Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK).

Entering the weekend with a strategic plan in place, Walters rode his Kawasaki ZX-10R to ninth place in qualifying with a flying 1m31.187s lap-time around the 3.93 kilometre circuit.

Satisfied with his single-lap pace and after equalling his personal best time, the New South Wales local entered Sunday’s two-race format with confidence and a dose of momentum on his side.

“Qualifying was really good, we worked well on one-lap pace and the guys helped us a lot,” said Walters. “The guys came together with a plan and we executed it really well, which was good. I equalled my personal best around here, so everything went really well in qualifying.”

Finishing in a fighting 15th position in race one after battling through major tyre degradation, however the privateer outfit rectified the problem for race two and displayed top 10 potential before a mechanical issue unfortunately forced him out of the event prematurely.

“In the races we struggled a fair bit. We ended up using a softer tyre in the first race, which didn’t last the laps and we really struggled,” Walters explained. “We fixed that problem by putting a harder tyre on for the second race and it was really good, we were up within the top seven or eight and the bike was feeling good, but then I had a bit of an issue with the bike and the race came to a screaming holt.”

Multiple-time national champion Walters remains positive leaving Sydney Motorsport Park as he reflects on his consistent ability to run within the highly-rated top 10 as a privateer in the series.

“I’m happy to be in that group, that top group,” he said. “I know I’m a little bit off the first, second and third places, which is fair, but being inside the top 10 just about every time is great for me, along with qualifying better than we had been, which makes it a little bit easier in the races.”

Walters now will focus ahead with added confidence as he looks towards a strong finish to the 2017 series when the riders next hit the track at Phillip Island’s season finale next month.

“It’s definitely a confidence booster, but I’m just struggling to finish races now with a bit of bad luck,” he added. “We’ve got two races to go and obviously I can’t win the championship now, but I’ll just go out there, keep trying hard together as a team and see where we end up.”

The final round of the 2017 Australian Superbike Championship will take place at Phillip Island in Victoria on 6-8 October. Like Matt Walters Racing on Facebook and visit www.asbk.com.au for further information on the series.