Chris Vermeulen has made it and is finally back on his Kawasaki superbike. The Australian after being out of action following his knee reconstruction surgery six months ago, had his first taste of the Ninja ZX-10R that he’ll be using this 2011 season

Kawasaki brought a platoon of riders to Sepang for the four day test, and while team mates Tom Sykes and Joan Lascorz, were learning the track and finding base set-ups, Vermeulen who already knows the Malaysian circuit from his MotoGP days, just concentrated riding and getting rid of the rust. Here’s what he had to say:

“I eased into it today and only did a limited number of laps, over three separate runs. I stopped before lunch today and then the rains came later in the afternoon, but we will go out again tomorrow. The new bike feels really good. The last bike I rode around Sepang was a GP machine, so to be impressed with this motorbike already shows it is a very good start. All the guys have done a great job in developing it. I was happy to come away with that positive impression, even after a relatively short number of laps so far. Right now I cannot quite bend my knee enough when going round right hand corners, but my knee has improved a lot over the last couple of weeks. Everything in the recovery of my knee is going to plan, and in fact I am quite a bit ahead of what the doctors expected. My muscle growth is good, particularly considering I have only been walking for three weeks.”

Kawasaki testing continues on Tuesday with a break on Wednesday, to resume Thursday and Friday.

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You can’t help admire the sheer grit and determination that a professional rider summons up after being injured and going through big time surgery and their rocky road to recovery.

Chris Vermeulen is certainly a tough s.o.b. and despite only now being able to move around without crutches, and still undergoing a strict training regime of swimming and cycling, in a race against time trying to get fit again, he still plans to be at Sepang in January to test his Kawasaki.

Hopefully Vermeulen will be able to take part in the test, even if PBM team manager Paul Bird recently admitted that he’s planning to have Stuart Easton take Vermeulen’s place in Sepang, as the Australian will only be 80% fit.

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Apparently Paul Bird of PBM Kawasaki doesn’t believe that Chris Vermeulen will still not be fit enough to test the new 2011 Ninja in next month’s four day test in Sepang, because he’s already arranged to have Stuart Easton to replace the still ailing Aussi.

Vermeulen has been out of racing action since July, when he pulled out of the WSBK championship to undergo extensive knee surgery, but had expected to be in shape to get his first taste of the ZX-10R at Sepang.

“Chris has been off his feet for 20 weeks and there is no point in having a rider who is only 80 per cent when it comes to testing. Stuart will ride with Tom (Sykes) and Joan (Lascorz) so we will have a full three-man team out there. Plus it’s also a thank you to Stuart for his Macau win with the team.”

Easton won the Macau GP last month for the third consecutive time.

Source | bikesportnews.com

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Chris Vermeulen is still moving around on crutches and can’t ride, but he’s at the Motorland Aragon circuit catching up with his Kawasaki team and watching Tom Sykes and Katsuaki Fuijwara putting the ZX-10R through its paces during the three day unofficial test.

Vermeulen in the video, let’s us hear the growling sound of Max Biaggi’s Aprilia RSV4 and also gives us an onboard view around the Spanish circuit from the new Ninja.

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For all you Tom Sykes fans out there, who were worried about his fate after a pretty good year with the PBM team and all the development and testing he’s done on the new Ninja, we can officially confirm that Skyes will be staying with the factory team.

Kawasaki will be running a three man squad in World Superbikes in 2011, which is pretty hot news in itself considering that several WSBK teams will be fielding only one rider next season, and besides confirming Sykes and Chris Vermeulen (who has a two year contract) they’ve also confirmed, as we believed they would, Joan Lascorz, who will be moving up from Supersport to their Superbike team.

“It’s great to be staying with Kawasaki as a manufacturer and ride for the Paul Bird team again for 2011. We have done some good work together this year and exceeded some of our expectations, so it is nice to stay with PBM Kawasaki team in what will be an important year for us all. The new bike is already showing massive potential in testing and we have a lot of sessions planned through the winter. Roll on 2011!” said Sykes.

Continue reading: WSBK: Kawasaki confirms three rider team in 2011

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Chris Vermeulen expects to be able to return to the track to begin testing Kawasaki’s 2011 ZX-10R early January. So far the testing of the new racing superbike has been carried out by Tom Sykes and Katsuaki Fujiwara.

The Aussie who is still on crutches, decided to pull out of the championship after the Brno round to undergo a second and more extensive knee surgery after his keyhole surgery in April didn’t solve his knee injury sustained during the first round at Phillip Island.

“I’ve had a ten week check-up since my operation in Barcelona and they (the doctors) are really happy and surprised with how my knee looks. It was a major surgery. I got a new piece of meniscus on the lateral side of my knee where it was very badly damaged and I also got a new ligament. It was a very big job and a complete recovery is around nine to twelve months before my body can accept the new parts. But after ten weeks I have over 90 degrees bend in my knee and I’m working hard with my physio doing 20 minutes of work on the knee every hour that I am awake. In three or four weeks time I might be able to throw the crutches away.”

Kawasaki will be testing at the Motorland Aragon circuit next week and four days in January at Sepang, Malaysia.

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Tom Sykes will remain in the World Superbike Championship next year. The British rider who in the last few races of the season has really impressed has been a big part on the development and testing of the new 2011 Ninja ZX-10R, will remain in Kawasaki.

Kawasaki’s Paul Bird has confirmed that Sykes has renewed with Paul Bird Motorsport for 2011, but has not announced in which team the British rider will be running (probably satellite team Pedercini ) as Chris Vermeulen will be in his second year of his 2 year deal and Joan Lascorz has been highly tipped as being fielded as the second rider.

“The team has been in negotiations with Tom Sykes for the past couple of weeks and I’m delighted to announce that he will remain contracted to Paul Bird Motorsport for 2011,” said Bird. “Tom has done an outstanding job for Kawasaki this year and he is a big part of the team’s future in World Superbikes. We have a busy test schedule planned over the winter and we look forward to returning to the World Superbike Championship next year to be as competitive as we possibly can.”

Source | bsn.com

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The 2011 Kawasaki ZX-10R was presented to journalists during the World Superbike round at Nurburgring and this video is from the presentation of the green machine in it’s racing trim.

The new Ninja will officially debut at the Intermot fair (October 6th) and will be fielded by Paul Bird Motorsport world superbike team with Chris Vermeulen and yet to be announced second rider (rumors say Joan Lascorz) at the helm of this all new Kawasaki.

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Chris Vermeulen underwent reconstructive knee surgery at the end of July after further damaging his already injured knee during the Brno round and that finally made him decide pull out of the current World Superbike season to try to fix his problems for once and for all.

Here’s the likeable Australian from his home in Andorra informing fans on the progess of his knee and how his rehabiliation recovery is going.

Chris even let us on that the new 2011 ZX-10R Ninja will be in Valencia testing in a couple of weeks and that he’s going to finally get a look at the finished machine, even if can’t ride it yet.

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After his ride with Kawasaki during the Brands Hatch BSB round where he scored at 10th place and two 11th places, 23- year old Ian Lowry has been confirmed by Kawasaki to replace the now recovering Chris Vermeulen at round 11 of the World Superbike championship at Nurburgring September 5th.

Ian Lowry: “I am really grateful for this opportunity to ride for the Factory Kawasaki squad. It was always a dream of mine to compete in the World Superbike Championship and now this is becoming a reality. I enjoyed my outing at Brands Hatch and working with such a professional team, and was surprised at how comfortable I felt on the Kawasaki. I know how competitive the World Superbike Championship is and I intend to make the most of this opportunity and repay the team with two strong finishes. I’m really looking forward to getting a full spin out in the bike again and am really excited about the race. “

Lowry has had a difficult 2010 season unable to find a team to race with. He was supposed to ride in the Spanish CEV Buckler Moto2 series with the JMWe FOGI Team, but the deal fizzled out and he then was called by Motorpoint Yamaha’s Superbike team to replace retiring Neil Hodgson and then was dropped for Andrew Pitt. The Irishman also made a wildcard appearance during the Silverstone World Supersport round with an IFS/Lowe Yamaha R6 managed by ex MotoGP racer Jeremy McWilliams finishing 20th.

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Chris Vermeulen has undergone a second corrective surgery on his injured knee that he picked up during the opening round at Phillip Island and that was further damaged after his crash in race 1 at Brno.

The Australian will be missing the remainder of season and will have to go through a long rehabilitation period and hopes to return in time to begin his side of the development of the new Kawasaki ZX-10R in early December.

Watch the video and find out directly from Chris about the length of the operation, what type of damage they found and how long his recovery and rehabilitation period will be.

Kawasaki’s test rider Akira Yanagawa will be replacing Vermeulen in this weekend’s round of the World Superbike Championship at Silverstone.

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After revealing that he will be skipping the rest of 2010 World Superbike season due to his lingering injury picked up during the season opener at Phillip Island which was aggravated after been taken out at Brno, Chris Vermeulen has confirmed that he will be undergoing keyhole surgery again to try to repair the ligament damange to his knee.

The Aussie rider who already underwent surgery in April in Belgium, this time will be operated on by Spanish sports surgen Dr. Pruna in Barcelona who will repair the two of the three damaged ligaments, providing the stability in the knee.

Chris Vermeulen:

“The decision to sit out of the remainder of the 2010 race and test season was a mutual one from both me and the team. It is only too apparent that I have not been able to recuperate from my right knee injury sustained at Phillip Island and the crash in Brno further set me back. The team have been patient with my slow recovery but it is not in my best interest or the teams to continue with the lack of progress we’ve made in a championship which is so competitive, even when you are 100% fit! I have sought expert medical advice in Barcelona this week where the specialists have advised I have keyhole surgery to clean up the damaged ligaments. I have been informed that I will be able to walk soon after but I’ll have to undergo extensive physiotherapy for at least two months so we will be based in Andorra for the time being! I will keep you posted after the operation via my website. ”

Kawasaki test rider Akira Yanagawa has already been confirmed to replace Vermeulen in the August 1st Silverstone round.

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