Team Joe Rocket Suzuki’s Josh Waters has declared that he’s confident of retaining the Australian Superbike Championship in 2010 after a positive first test of the year at Phillip Island last week.

The recently turned 23-year-old set the unofficial second fastest time of the test with a 1:35.2 on Dunlop’s all-new D211GP Racer control tyres, but it was his consistency throughout the two days that will make him the favourite heading into round one at the end of this month on 26-28 February.

“I’ve never had to defend a championship in road racing and they always say it’s harder to defend,” Waters said this morning while working in his home town of Mildura. “There are a lot of good riders on many good bikes this year, so I just need to keep working hard.

“There’s obviously going to be a cross on my back because I’ve got the number one plate, but I have a really good team and I believe that I’ve got as good of a chance as anyone else – I’ll be trying hard, that’s for sure.”

The Phillip Island test marked Waters’ official ASBK debut with the number one plate, getting a solid amount of laps and further adjusting to the new control rubber.

“We were able to do consistently quick times at the Island test, although I know the times will be quicker come round one,” Waters commented. “I was happy with how it went and I know that we will keep improving, so that’s a good thing.

“A lot of guys were able to go quick on the new tyres, but the main thing will be consistency and that’s what I’m going to focus on, trying to make them last as long as we can – it’s got a surprisingly good amount of grip when it’s new.”

Waters is content with the series’ decision to introduce a cheaper control tyre for the new year, taking his time to adapt to the new rubber and also setting up his Phil Tainton Racing-prepared GSX-R1000 for the grip available.

“The tyres are quite a bit different to the N-Tecs from last year obviously, but everybody is on a level playing field and I’m looking forward to the first round,” Waters explained.

“We only had two sets of tyres for Phillip Island’s test over the two days, but we got a fair bit done and we have another couple of tests coming up before the opening round and I know that we will continue to make the bike better when we develop it around the new tyres.”