Swann Insurance Kawasaki press release:

Swann Insurance Kawasaki and Matt Walters have been crowned the top privateers in the 2018 Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) following a spectacular fifth-place finish in Phillip Island’s final round over the weekend.

Walters qualified eighth on the grid with a new personal best lap of 1m33.549s around the high-speed Victorian circuit, before going on to register 9-5 results across Sunday’s pair of 12-lap premier class races.

Those results at round seven saw Walters secure seventh position in the final championship standings aboard his Ninja ZX-10R for the season, capturing the privateer championship in a phenomenal result for the entire Swann Insurance Kawasaki team.

“The set-up has felt really good in the last couple of rounds and I recorded my best lap-time at Phillip Island,” Walters reflected. “Race one wasn’t too bad and managed to claw back a few points on [Alex] Phillis, which was the main objective to take the privateer championship.

“In the second race I got a better start and was happy with it, saw some people have bad luck and I just kept pushing on. I made my way to fifth in the race, which was enough to win the privateer championship and it’s really nice to meet our goal and target.

“We’ve had a number of DNFs out of everybody’s control, so it’s really rewarding to come through with the top privateer award and the guys in the pits who are largely my family and mates have worked so hard and it’s been great. It’s a reward for them and it’s a reward for me, especially having a pretty good time doing it as well.

“Kawasaki Motors Australia has been great, it’s nearly been 10 years that they’ve been supporting us, so it is definitely a major assistance and their support has been a real help for us over the years that we have been working together to go racing at this level.

“Swann Insurance’s backing has been great for the past two years, helping me to achieve the best thing you can as a privateer rider, as well as Monza Imports, Rover Coaches and each of our supporters. Pirelli tyres have also been great support, so we’re really thankful to finish the year on a high!”

Phillip Island marks the final national appearance of the Swann Insurance Kawasaki team for season 2018, capping off what has been an inspired year with Walters at the helm among the country’s finest Superbike competitors throughout the series.

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