Image: Supplied.

Australian Josh Waters has expressed his disappointment in crashing during the opening laps of the 2019 Coca-Cola Suzuka 8 Hours, which put the Moto Map SWAT Suzuki team nine laps down.

The squad, which was ranked 13th overall and first in Superstock with Waters piloting, was able to recover from the incident, bouncing back for 27th overall and fourth in Superstock.

“Obviously I am very disappointed,” said Waters. “I had a crash from the start, but the team did an amazing job all weekend and it showed in qualifying and how fast we were able to go on a stock bike.

“Our pace throughout the race was the fastest of all the stock bikes. Big thanks to Nobu, to everyone in the team, they have done a fantastic job. So next year, we will win. Third year lucky.”

Waters will return to his duties in the Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK), which returns to action on 6-8 September at Winton in Victoria.