Image: Russell Colvin.

Lachlan Epis has been a standout performer during the Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) pre-season, displaying strong pace the BMW Alliance rider has his sights set on the podium.

Epis, 22, showed impressive speed at the official ASBK pre-season test at Phillip Island, finishing third and fastest posting times in the 1m32s bracket during multiple sessions.

Continuing testing at Queensland Raceway earlier this week, Epis unofficially clocked a 1m07.82s lap, placing him under the current lap record of 1m08.5s, and pole record of 1m08.1s, both set by Glenn Allerton in 2013. By many accounts, the number 83 was the quickest rider during the QR test.

“I think we’ve had the strongest pre-season I’ve ever had in my career, at the Phillip Island test we were second, then third overall and we showed that we could be there,” Epis stated.

“Then we went to Queensland Raceway and all of the ASBK boys were there, we were arguably one of the fastest ones there and we broke the old lap record, the bike just felt amazing. A lot of that comes down to the hard work everyone has put in, BMW Alliance, the new team, there’s a lot of energy and excitement to see how far the team can go.

With Phillip Island’s ASBK season opener taking place on 25-27 February, followed by round two at Queensland Raceway on 18-20 March, Epis is looking to transfer the pre-season form into the opening four races.

“The goal is absolutely no mistakes, finish all four races [of the opening two rounds] and hopefully finish them all on the box,” Epis added. “I think that is a realistic goal, and once we get deeper into the season we can start worrying about what the championship looks like.

“For me the goal is to come out at Phillip Island with podium results then go to Queensland Raceway and if we can transfer the form we had at the test we should be fighting for race wins.”