Josh Waters braves injury to take the McMartin Racing with K-Tech Panigale Ducati V4R to the round victory at Phillip Island.

Josh Waters put injury woes to the back of his mind as he battled the blustery conditions to qualify the McMartin Racing with K-Tech Ducati Panigale in second place, .120 off pole, despite suffering significant arm injuries in a crash at the Suzuka 8 Hour Race in August. Waters then went on to secure the round win at round six of the ASBK Championship held at Phillip Island Morgan Park over the weekend.

Phillip Island’s Grand Prix circuit is one of the most daunting tracks anywhere in the world, but three-time ASBK Champion Josh Waters has an impressive record at this track including re-setting the lap record in his first competitive ride on the V4R prepared by Craig McMartin just twelve months ago. Working hard, the team used the practice sessions to address the lack of grip being offered by the track, Josh, Adrian and Craig were able to improve the feeling with the bike to get back to within one second of Josh’s outright qualifying record time to secure second place on the grip for Sunday’s two twelve lap races. 

Josh got off a brilliant jump off the line on the McMartin Racing with K-Tech Ducati Panigale V4R in race one storming into the lead determined to put a gap on the field. At the completion of lap one Josh had a gap of .432 over the field but by lap four defending champion Mike Jones and his teammate Cru Halliday were on a charge forward. Jones went past on lap six with Halliday following a lap later, Josh in third had a comfortable margin back to fourth and sat on the tail of the top two for the next few laps. Jones crashed at turn four on lap ten leaving Halliday in the lead and Josh right on his tail. Both riders were pushing to the limit over the final laps using the respective strengths of their bikes to gain any advantage. On a charge to the line Josh just came up .077 short of the race win to reduce the gap to the championship lead to eight points. 

Race two saw Josh get another blinding start great jump off the line and open a gap just shy of a full second by the completion of lap two. However, by the start of lap seven Jones has closed that down to .308. Josh responded on the following lap to maintain a buffer of .3-.4 at the completion of each lap to take a hard-fought win after twelve punishing laps. Despite suffering those significant injuries suffered only two months ago Josh’s determination and the skill of the McMartin Racing Team saw them take the overall round win over a weekend that provided significant obstacles.

Josh and the McMartin Racing Team with K-Tech Ducati V4R are now tied for the lead in the ASBK Championship heading into the final round at The Bend Motorsport Park at the beginning of December.

“After a big break it was great to be back on track.” commented round winner Josh Waters. “Unfortunately, I got injured in that period while riding at the Suzuka 8hr Race, I injured my right wrist and shoulder which leading into the weekend I was very nervous about. All weekend I was able to be in the top three thanks to the team who did an amazing job accommodating me with a few things as I wasn't able to ride like normal. To win the round overall and recover the points deficit in the championship is great. Now we will keep working hard, I'll keep recovering and bring our best to the final round in a months’ time at Tailem bend”.

“I am so happy and proud of Josh and the team” said Team Manager Craig McMartin. “For Josh to get the overall round win with the injuries he has is amazing, he has worked so hard on his fitness to get back on the bike and be competitive here at a very difficult track. The team worked so hard all weekend and Adrian was incredible in how he was able to make the bike more rideable for Josh. I would like to thank all the sponsors and supporters of the team for their continued support, we will now put our full focus on the final round at The Bend”.