Good news for Chris Vermeulen and his PBM Kawasaki team, the Aussie rider will not have to undergo surgery to repair the extensive knee damage that he picked up in his high speed crash at Lukey Heights during race 2 at Phillip Island.

Despite not having full movement in his leg, Vermeulen has stated that he wants to try race in the upcoming WSBK round at Portimao that takes place from March 26th to 28th:

“I saw my doctor again on Wednesday 17th March and the good news is that I do not need an operation on my leg. He said it would take a long time to heal, however, because there is a fair bit of damage in there. The main reason he did not want to operate is because it would not reduce the healing time and at this stage it is better to stay out of it. I don’t have enough bend in my knee joint to get my foot onto the footpeg at the moment but the race is a bit away yet, so hopefully it will be right by Portimao. I will be able to cycle quite soon, which will get more blood flow through it and help it heal faster.”

Continue reading: WSBK: Chris Vermeulen will be in Portimao

With WSBK round 2 at Portimao in just two weeks time, we’ve got a couple of injury updates on riders of who will be racing and who’s still in doubt.

Chris Vermeulen (Kawasaki Racing) with his usual video, (thanks Chris) tells us the extent of the knee injuries that he picked up during race 2 when his gearbox locked up and sent him crashing into the tire wall at 200 km/h. Vermeulen in doubt.

James Toseland (Yamaha Sterilgarda) fractured his third metacarpal bone of his left hand during a heavy fall in free practice and hurt his hand further when he highsided in race 1. In race two the Brit rider took 10th place, but rode the race with his hand heavily anethestized. Toseland will race.

Roland Resch (Reitwagen BMW) crashed during Q1 and picked up a concussion and fractured his right collarbone and was operated on a week ago according to his Twitter page and thinks he can be ready for the Portimao round. Resch still in doubt.

Continue reading: WSBK - Physical Updates on Injured Riders

Kawasaki’s Chris Vermeulen crashed out twice in round 1 Phillip Island with a very big and scary crash in Race 2 that left the rider with a very swollen leg.

Here’s Vermeulen from his video blog describing his races what happened and why he crashed.

Continue reading: WSBK: Chris Vermeulen talks Phillip Island Crashes

After a brief acquaintance with Kawasaki ZX-10R at the Autopolis circuit in Japan, Chris Vermeulen has finally got some decent time on his new superbike during a two-day test at the Cartagena track, in Spain.

Vermeulen stated that the test proved positive, although he was not chasing laptimes at the Spanish circuit: “Lap time wise, according to most people, we did reasonably well, but we were not trying to go fast. We were just making changes on the bike and understanding how it was going to react to those changes. Electronics, suspension, chassis and engine, all that kind of stuff.”

“It was all good and our first real time on the bike to get familiar with it. It was also the first time working with the mechanics and engineers from the team. That side also went well.”” said Vermeulen. “The team seemed to gel and they are all excited about the future. They are all good guys and that side worked well too. I had never been there before, not even in my BSB days, so it was another new thing to learn. There were only three bikes going around so we maybe didn’t get the track surface at its peak. But we got a real understanding for how the bike feels and it feels good”.”

Other Kawasaki rider, Tom Sykes was also present, and he too did a number of laps despite some stiffness in his shoulder resulting from an injury he picked up towards the end of the racing season.

Source | kawasakiracingteam

Continue reading: WSBK - Chris Vermeulen talks about his test at Cartagena

Chris Vermeulen will finally get his first test on the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R. The three day test, organized directly by Kawasaki Racing, starts tomorrow and will take place at the Autopolis circuit in Japan which is owned by Kawasaki.

The Aussie rider will be returning to Superbikes after four years in MotoGP where he won one race at the Le Mans GP in 2007.

Vermeulen will then test his new Kawasaki in Spain with Paul Bird Motorsport’s team which he met during his visit at the Portimao WSBK tests. The UK based team is now in Macao to compete in the GP at the legendary Guia circuit with Ian Hutchinson and Conor Cummins.

Kawasaki will not be competing in either MotoGP or American or Australian Superbike championships and will focus totally on the World Superbike Championship.

Continue reading: WSBK - Chris Vermeulen to test at Autopolis

Tom Sykes has confirmed that he’ll be riding for the Kawasaki World Superbike team next year and will partner Chris Vermeulen in the all new 2010 team line up.

The British rider who’s currently 8th in the standings, has had a lacklustre season with the factory Yamaha, if compared to his team mate, rookie sensation Ben Spies, who’ll be fighting for the World Superbike championship title this Sunday at Portimao against Noriyuki Haga.

Sykes, who lost his factory Yamaha ride to Cal Crutchlow who’ll be moving up to the superbike series and James Toseland who be switching back to WSBK after two years in MotoGP.

The soon to be Kawasaki rider will get his first taste of ZX-10R next Tuesday and Wednesday in the official post race tests at the Portimao circuit.

The now ousted riders Broc Parkes and Makoto Tamada have yet to reveal where they’ll be heading in 2010.

Source | mcn

Continue reading: WSBK - Tom Sykes confirmed in Kawasaki

Sylvain Guintoli who will be switching from the BSB Championship to WSBK is going to debut at the Portimao race this weekend with his new 2010 team.

The former MotoGP rider, turned BSB rider underwent surgery last week to remove a screw from below his knee will ride the Alstare Suzuki for the first time on Friday and then take part in post race tests on Tuesday and Wednesday.

James Toseland who lost his MotoGP ride to Ben Spies, will also be taking part in the WSBK tests after receiving permission from his soon-to- be ex-team manager Herve Poncharal, to familiarize himself with the Portimao track and get to know the Yamaha R1 alongside new team mate Cal Crutchlow. Toseland will fly to Portugal immediately after the MotoGP Sepang race that takes place this weekend.

Chris Vermeulen who’ll also be switching to WSBK next season with a two year contract with Kawasaki Racing team, will not be taking part in the tests, as Rizla Suzuki team manager Paul Denning prefers that the Aussie rider concentrate on the final race of the season at Valencia, that takes place November 8th.

Source | sbk

Continue reading: WSBK – Sylvain Guintoli to debut at Portimao race with Alstare Suzuki

According to Bikesportnews, Tom Sykes maybe partnering MotoGP refugee Chris Vermeulen in the Paul Bird Kawasaki World Superbike team next season.

Sykes performances in Yamaha have been completely overshadowed by the team mate Ben Spies, who will be fighting for the title in the final round at Portimao and will be leaving the WSBK championship, with or without the title, for MotoGP in 2010.

The British rider, who is currently 8th in the championship standings lost his Yamaha R1 ride to the returning 2 time World Superbike champion James Toseland and to Cal Crutchlow who is switching from SuperSport to Superbikes.

If Bird confirms the ‘Grinner’ as Sykes is known, this will leave both Broc Parkes and Makoto Tamada searching for rides next year.

Continue reading: WSBK – Tom Sykes to Kawasaki with Vermeulen?

Sunday will be Chris Vermeulen’s fourth to last race in MotoGP with Rizla Suzuki, because next year the Aussie rider will be heading to the World Superbike Championship with Paul Bird’s Motorsport Kawasaki Racing Team.

Vermeulen has signed a two year deal that was finalised with Kawasaki boss Ichiro Yoda at Estoril on the eve of this Estoril MotoGP weekend.

Chris Vermeulen:

“It’s a really good deal and I’m excited about joining Kawasaki from the technical point of view, to race and develop the bike next year and then go out on the new bike for 2011. World Superbikes is going to be their main project, they are pulling out of MotoGP and they will not be running an AMA team nor a team in the Australian Superbike championship. This WSB program is where all their engineers and budget will be focused. They haven’t won in WSB for a long time and they really want to win races. The financial backing and resources is very good for this project.

Vermeulen had also been linked to Aprilia and Yamaha in WSBK and Pramac Ducati, Yamaha Tech 3 in MotoGP.

It seems that Kawasaki are also talking with Shane Byrne and Tom Sykes about the second seat in the team, which would leave both Makoto Tamada and Broc Parkes out of a ride.

Source | mcn

Continue reading: Chris Vermeulen to WSBK in Kawasaki

Chris Vermeulen is another of those 4 or 5 riders who are still looking and fighting to keep a MotoGP ride in 2010, after Suzuki prefered signing up rookie Alvaro Bautista, one of Spain’s most loved riders and keep veteran Loris Capirossi.

Vermeulen has already stated that a satellite bike is his only true option to remain in the series, but with so few bikes on the grid and over abundance of talented but out of a job riders offering their services, team managers can now have their pick at sell out prices.

Rumors have it that the Aussie has even offered to ride for free in Herve Poncharal’s Yamaha Tech 3 team, but Poncharal has riders lining up outside the back door of his garage that will not only ride for free, they’re even willing to bring to bring in their own money.

Talking to the Brisbane Times, Vermeulen has this to say:

“I am disappointed that Suzuki has decided not to renew my contract for next season, but I am absolutely committed to continuing my career in the top flight of motorcycle racing. MotoGP has been my life for the past four years and I still have unfinished business here.”

“I am a fighter and I know that with the right technical package I am capable of battling with and beating the best in this sport”.

Continue reading: MotoGP Chris Vermeulen - 'I have unfinished business here'

Chris Vermeulen talks about his 11th place in today’s qualifying session at Brno.

Vermeulen’s place in Rizla Suzuki is on the line for the 2010 season. According to the Spanish press Vermeulen’s ride may be going to 250cc rider Alvaro Bautista and Loris Capirossi’s manager Carlo Pernat announced today that his client is ironing out the last details with Paul Denning and will probably be confirmed tomorrow or on Monday during the official test.

Vermeulen has admitted that his only option to stay in MotoGP is in a satellite team and his management team has talked with Herve Poncharal and private teams. The Aussie rider also admitted that he would take a pay cut because he’s not interested in riding for money but only in racing.

Continue reading: MotoGP Brno - Chris Vermeulen talks about Qualifying

Remember Prince Harry showing up at the British MotoGP? Well, it was Rizla Suzuki’s rider Chris Vermeulen who invited Harry to the Donington races after seeing a picture of the Prince wearing a replica of his own racing helmet.

Vermeulen presented the Prince with the original helmet that he wore during the race and another one for William and third helmet for charity. The MotoGP rider got asked if he could give private racing lessons, as the Prince might be trading in his Triumph motorcyle for a Ducati, just like his older brother.

Riding pillion with Randy Mamola must have given Harry the racing bug, who knows if we’ll ever see the Prince in some club race.

Source | brisbanetimes via motorbike.org

Continue reading: Prince Harry to get riding lessons from Chris Vermeulen