Veteran World Superbike rider Troy Corser reckons he is staying positive about his season with the BMW Superbike team despite a disastrous first race at his home Phillip Island round.

The Aussie, who has taken part in more than 400 WSB races in his career, fell foul of the new, three-tier Superpole and then had the "hardest race of my life" in the first leg.

"That was an up and down day for sure, but I’ll take the positive - my eighth place in the first race. I made a good start and just kept at it. It ended up being one of the hardest races of my life, but I was determined to give it everything I had," said Corser.

"I think we showed that the S1000RR has potential and I’m sure that there is quite a bit more to come, once we have got further along with its development. As I said before, the team have done a great job to get the bike where it is now so soon and although there’s more work to do, all the signs are good and I am excited about the prospects.

"Regarding race two: Probably the less said, the better. The tyres were gone after just one lap or so. I am happy with the bike and know that it has a lot of potential. We’ve just got to keep working hard and the results will come for sure."