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Waters’ strong Superbike debut

Posted on October 24, 2011

SUNRAYSIA motorcycle road racer Nick Waters will go down in history as one of the youngest riders to finish on the podium in his debut ride in Australia’s elite road racing category.

Nick (left) and Brodie Waters

Racing for the GAS Honda team at last weekend’s Phillip Island Grand Prix, Nick had just one day of testing and one race weekend in the lower tier Formula Extreme category on the larger 1000cc machine.

The majority of his competitors meanwhile had raced the entire season, plus multiple test days, on their machines. But the determined 17-year-old didn’t let a thing like lack of experience deter him, taking third overall for the round against the quickest riders in Australia.

However, it wasn’t all smooth sailing for the Sunraysia rider, who had to battle a host of obstacles throughout the weekend. His adventures started in practice last Friday, when he only completed three laps before the session was called off after another bike dropped oil on the circuit.

It was then onto the 20-minute qualifying session, which netted him sixth on the grid, an encouraging result given his lack of bike time, though he was still about a second off the times he’d lapped the Phillip Island circuit the previous weekend in testing.

In the first race of the weekend he got a good start and was holding down sixth when he missed a gear going into a corner, exiting the track at more than 220km/h.

Nick managed to stay on the bike and got back into the fray, though he’d fallen back to 13th by this stage. Within three laps he’d fought his way back to ninth, right behind his brother, Brodie, who was racing a Pro Stock 1000cc machine in the same race.

The brothers crossed the finish line in that order, less than 100th of a second apart.

After Nick’s second scheduled race of the weekend was cancelled, once again due to oil on the track, he set his sights on race three. After another good start, a combination of quick laps from Nick and several crashes from riders ahead of him elevated Nick from sixth place to fourth, with lap times comparable to the leading group.

Nick’s final race of the weekend proved the most chaotic. It all started after the sighting lap and warm-up, as thunderclouds gathered overhead.

The start lights were on and the riders ready to race when the race starter put a halt to proceedings as rain began to fall.

For Nick it presented a new challenge as the 17-year-old had never ridden the 1000cc machine in the wet before.

All riders left the grid for the pits, getting onto their ‘wet’ bikes, which are set up with rain tyres.

“I was a bit nervous when I got onto the bike and they (his team) said I had better do a practice start in the pits before I went out on the bike,” Nick explained. “I just idled off and it immediately went sideways. I said to myself ‘I don’t think I’m going to like this race’.”

Despite his concerns, Nick got off to another good start and was eyeing off third position when he was thrown out of the saddle after losing grip coming out of a turn.

His brother, Brodie, was right behind him when it happened and witnessed the entire incident. Nick was flung over the front of his bike, landing on the front screen, smashing the screen and cutting his chest.

“As soon as I saw him go up and nearly kiss the front tyre I thought, ‘he’s gone’,” Brodie said. “The next second he’s dragging along on his knees and he’s not letting go.

“Then he gets onto his feet and he’s skiing along beside the bike. Then he somehow flicked himself back on and off he goes like normal!”

Nick’s ‘slight’ mishap cost him two positions and a fair chunk of confidence.

“I lost all my confidence after that and just put it in survival mode then and finished seventh,” Nick said.

The 17-year-old didn’t realise until he made it back to the pits that his results were enough to give him third overall for the round.

His older brother Brodie meanwhile was on Pro Stock 1000cc duties. Brodie currently sits second in the Australian Supersport championship and races the Pro Stock category at select rounds.

Brodie won every Pro Stock race on the weekend and would have come close to a podium finish against the much quicker Superbike machines if they were categorised in the same race. He is in second position in the Pro Stock standings despite missing the opening round due to Australian Supersport duties.

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