AUSTRALIA’S 2017
SUPERBIKE champion
Josh Waters has described
his maiden test on a Suzuki
MotoGP machine as “a
dream come true”.
The 31-year-old was
given the opportunity on
Thursday 25 January ahead
of the official three-day test
in Sepang, alongside fellow
Suzuki riders MotoAmerica
championship winner
Toni Elias and Isle of Man
TT’s Senior TT race winner
Michael Dunlop.
Waters said he received
the call-up before Christmas:
“I was like, ‘you’re kidding
me!’ I couldn’t believe it,”
the Suzuki rider told crash.
net. “And then the other
two riders – Toni has been
world champion and Michael
Dunlop is the fastest everrider at the Isle of Man!”
He was given two
30-minute stints on the bike
and while he said he’d love to
do a couple more days on it,
“my dream pretty much came
true in motorbike racing, so
a huge thanks to everyone
involved for letting me havea go.”
It was an amazing
experience I’ll never forget,
I tried to think what the bike
might feel like but it felt so
different,” Waters said after
the test. “It’s not easy to ride
but it was like taking off on
a normal motorbike, they’vedone such a good job. The
way the torque is delivered is
so smooth.
“I was worried because I
was the first guy to ride it and
thought I might stall it!
“Amazing,” he responded
when asked about the GSX-
RR’s power output.
“With the acceleration- our bikes in Australia are
standard so the electronics
are good, but they are the
ones you buy from the
dealership. We modify them a
bit, but these here in MotoGP
are the best in the world so
you can trust them a lot more.
“But I didn’t want to crash
it or anything! Maybe that
was why they put me first,
they thought I’d be the safest!
“It was just an amazing
experience that I’ll never
forget.”
120 amcn.com.au
sport
ASBKFactorygiftsAussiechampGSX-RRtestafterwinningASBKtitle
Josh Waters given
thank you MotoGP test
Something tells us
Waters’ face looked
like this for days