Swann Insurance Kawasaki press release:

Swann Insurance Kawasaki’s Matt Walters is all set for an ultra-competitive season in the 2018 Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK), which gets underway at the scenic Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit in Victoria this weekend between 22-25 February.

Walters is looking to capitalise on a strong pre-season aboard his Ninja ZX-10R, recently posting the ninth-quickest time during official testing at the 4.445km venue. He lapped within a second of the front-running pace over two days in January, putting him in a positive frame of mind entering round one.

“We’re really happy with how the bike’s performing and at the test we were instantly quicker than at the final race meeting of last year,” multiple-time national champion Walters explained. “It was a promising start to the year for us, so that’s been good and the plan is to have a really strong start to the season at Phillip Island.

“Three consistent races will be important for us this weekend, because last year I crashed out of the first race and had too many DNFs, so this season we have to work on finishing every race and getting the best results that we possibly can. Qualifying will be important and then we can work from there through the round to pick up some good points in the races.

“Swann Insurance is back for this year and we’re really happy to welcome them back. They are a really quality title sponsor in addition to all of our other valued supporters, including Kawasaki Motors Australia, which has been there in both the good times and also some tougher times for us. We’re feeling good heading into 2018 and look forward to a great year with everybody.”

The opening practice session of the 2018 ASBK series will commence this afternoon, with three 12-lap races to be contested across the weekend – one on Saturday and two on Sunday. This weekend’s opener takes place alongside the first round of the Superbike World Championship.

Like Matt Walters Racing on Facebook and visit www.asbk.com.au for further information on the series.