The 17-year-old finished the test with the fastest overall time in the combined practice sessions by posting a sizzling 1min16.098 lap record in the final thirty minute session on Thursday.

Toparis explained to the Goulburn Post that last week’s test was “challenging,” but was happy enough with the outcome as he and his team managed to tick most of the boxes at the conclusion of the test.  

“We have the Cube Racing ZX6R machine setup pretty well, but we know what we have to do to go faster,” said Toparis who topped the time sheets in three out of the eight sessions across the two days.

Come round five of the championship in a few weeks’ time at the 2.967km Morgan Park Raceway, Toparis believes that lap times in qualifying will be in the mid to high 15’s, while race pace will probably be low 16’s, which is what Toparis will have to work towards in the three practice sessions.

“Testing was a challenge for us. In saying that, every time I go out on track I’m learning more about the bike.

“Not only am I learning, but the team as well. My suspension technician, Chris Jones from XXX Rated Race Suspension and I are reaching new milestones with the bike and its becoming a lot easier to understand in regards to knowing what to do with the bike.”

Last Wednesday when Toparis hit the circuit for the first time, it was all about getting on top of tyre wear issues as the tyres were tearing apart, like at Winton Motor Raceway.

Once they found the problem they they achieved ta reduction in tyre wear. Toparis and his Queensland based team are much happier with the tyre wear level, which means the 14 lap race duration on the last weekend of August should not cause them problems.

However, Toparis didn’t manage to do any long runs during the test, which is why he and his team will have to do a race simulation during a practice session, when they get back up to Morgan Park for the the practice sessions on the Friday.

“The test was more about getting the lap times going,” Topairs explained after doing a total of 88-laps across the two days.

“Breaking the lap record means we are not going to bad so far. In saying that, there is still time to be made. So far we have put ourselves in a good position to race at the front again like we did at Darwin to be able to get some good points for the championship.”

Toparis and his team made a lot of changes that  have made the bike much easier for him to ride. Toparis said at the start of the test felt he could achieve a good lap time, but was working way too hard.

“We have made the bike a lot easier to ride and in the long run it’s going to be good for us.”

Heading into the fifth round of the ASBK series, Toparis knows it will be a hard round for him as Morgan Park Raceway is completely different to the previous round at Darwin’s Hidden Valley Raceway.

Morgan Park Raceway is similar to Winton, but a lot rougher. Toparis struggled at Winton at the end of April. However, he is becoming more at one with the bike and his team has overcome some of the problems, that occurred at Winton.

“If I had the knowledge as I do now, then I’m sure Winton would have been a different story and the championship would not be a long way away,” Toparis, who goes into the third last championship round trailing its leader, Ted Collins by 46-points said.

“Hopefully it’s going to work out alright for us. It’s the team’s home race, so we’ll have to put on a good show for the team sponsors.

“But more importantly, we have to score good points to fight for the championship,” concluded Toparis.