Joshua Waters ended a dominant season by claiming his second Australian Superbike championship at Queensland Raceway on Sunday.
Victorian rider Waters simply needed to finish the two 17-lap races in the final round to take the title after entering the event with a 19.5-point lead over nearest rival, Honda’s Wayne Maxwell.
The 25-year-old made sure of the title with a fourth place in race one and sixth in race two, ensuring Maxwell only closed the gap to 13.5 points.
The Suzuki rider admitted he was uncomfortable with a safety-first approach after the day’s second race.
“It’s just great to make it official, I can’t thank the team enough for everything they’ve done and preparing a bike that I love to ride,” said Waters, who has had to recover from a serious testing accident in 2010 which left him in an induced coma.
“It’s a great feeling and good to win my second title as it’s only my second full season on the Superbike.
“Wayne (Maxwell) was massively competitive all year and he did a really good job to cut back my lead – he had some bad luck early on and if it weren’t for that then it would have been neck-and-neck today.”
Maxwell’s Honda teammate Jamie Stauffer won both races and the round on Sunday to finish third overall in the championship.