Motourage

The Paul Bird Kawasaki trio of Tom Sykes, Joan Lascorz and Chris Vermeulen join forces once again this weekend; this time at the new World Superbike venue of Motorland Aragon, in Lascorz’s home country of Spain.

The entire WSBK paddock is now involved in a trek across southern Europe directly after last Sunday’s Misano round, and for many this will be their first visit to Aragon. It is, however, the official Kawasaki squad’s test track, and all three riders have posted laps there, albeit some more than others.

Sykes left Misano with a Superpole win and a season best of fourth in race one and his confidence has been boosted in general by an ever-improving real race set-up on the new-for-2011 Ninja ZX-10R. Holding 13th place in the championship standings, Tom is keen to post two good results and start moving up, starting at a very modern circuit in northern Spain that has a wow factor for riders and spectators alike.

A home race for Lascorz may mean extra pressures but the laid-back rider from Barcelona has at least had the chance to lap Aragon in testing recently, albeit for a short time. He ranks the circuit as one of the most challenging on the calendar but he is nonetheless looking forward to his second WSBK race in seven days, particularly as it will be on home soil. Joan is just one place behind Tom in the current overall rankings.

A successful return to action for Vermeulen at Misano saw him in the points in each race, and even score a satisfying tenth place in race two, putting him on the leader board in 20th position after some dreadful bad luck with injuries in the past months. Still not absolutely 100% recovered, Chris still showed at Misano that he is ready for the rest of the season as he gets to know his Ninja ZX-10R better with every lap. He has already had two days of testing under his belt at Aragon, which he rates very highly as a new venue on the championship trail.

After the Spanish weekend, the Czech Republic circuit of Brno will welcome the WSBK circus, between July 8 and July 10.

Tom Sykes:
“We did quite well in our test at Aragon, so hopefully we can take our Misano momentum forward. I am looking forward to it and a couple of days should give my sore back a chance to rest, because I struggled with it a bit at Misano. That race gave us a lot of confidence and we were fast in hot conditions, which was particularly good. It will be good go racing again in just a few days time.”

Joan Lascorz:
“I made a short test at Argon but I really do not know how well we can go there this weekend, because we only did a few laps. Misano gave us some positives to work on, but we will have to see how things are in Aragon. At least I have ridden there and I know the lines; not so much but enough to know it is a difficult circuit. It is my home race, and I will have some family and friends there to cheer me on.”

Chris Vermeulen:
“I am looking forward to Aragon because we had a two-day test there a week or two ago. Conditions were not perfect because it was very windy and there was a lot of rubber on the track from cars. I have learned the circuit and I’m glad because it is quite a difficult track to learn. It’s really nice and I think it is going to make for exciting racing. I hope it does anyway. There is a lot of everything there, blind corners and a big long back straight with a very hard braking area. The Kawasaki seemed to work well in the test and I will be going out to improve on where we finished at Misano.”

Tom Sykes

Tom Sykes and Joan Lascorz will be joined in the official Kawasaki Racing Team this weekend by Chris Vermeulen, as the regular KRT trio gets set to meet the challenge of Donington Park in England.

Sykes feels that Donington is an ideal circuit to make the next development steps at, as he and his former British Superbike team have an intimate knowledge of the circuit in a variety of weather and track conditions. That may well be an important part of race weekend, as this early in the English springtime weather conditions can be variable but almost certainly on the cool side compared to most other races through the season.

Chris Vermeulen undertook some track tests recently, in Spain on Monday and then yesterday at Cadwell Park in England, to determine whether or not he could ride at Donington. The intention now is that Chris will ride as much as he is able to this weekend, including race day if his knee injury allows. He will then take part in the full weekend of racing at the next round at Assen on April 17, and should be back to his competitive best at the Monza round, on 8 May.

In his debut WSBK season Joan Lascorz has had some highs and lows but his long recovery from injury to his arm continues and he expects to be even more competitive than he was at round one in Australia. He is a big fan of Donington, and like his fellow competitors he will find some changes to the circuit when he takes part in first practice on Friday. Increased runoff, a remodeled Foggy Esses and other detail changes will appear at a circuit that WSBK last visited in 2009.

The Kawasaki Racing Team effort in Europe is based at the premises of Paul Bird Motorsports (PBM) in Cumbria, England, meaning that most team members – including Sykes – arrive at Donington for the first of two home rounds in the 2011 season.

Tom Sykes: “I’m obviously looking forward to Donington, not just because it is my home round but it is a circuit I really enjoy. We still need to keep working on the development of the bike so going to Donington is probably a good thing. Both the team and myself know what we need to make the bike work well round this track, so that will help us in our development stage. I am more confident this year that we can put on a better show for the British fans. I am very lucky in that I have a good fan base and hopefully I can repay them with something good this weekend. Everybody on the grid is in the same boat and at this time of year it will be cold around Donington. The team and I also have good experience there in a variety of conditions so I am looking forward to it. It is a good track for us at this stage of the new Ninja ZX-10R’s race development.”

Chris Vermeulen: “I will ride to use this weekend but almost as a test at first. From my doctor’s point of view I am improving well, but I should just be increasing my riding step-by-step. I rode yesterday at Cadwell Park in England, did about 30 laps in total on the Ninja ZX-10R, and it felt really good. My speed was OK but I was not going to break any lap records. My knee started to swell up afterwards so we rested it up. We have decided to ride this weekend but to look at it as a test; not only for my knee but to get some information on the bike, to ride the new generation Pirellis and just get out there on track and see how it goes. If it goes well we will race, but at this stage races may be quite difficult.”

Joan Lascorz: “I like Donington and I have good memories of racing there last time when I finished second in the WSS race. It is quite a hard track in terms of the muscle power you have to use to move the bike around, particularly down Craner Curves, and there are also places where you have to use the brakes very hard from high speed. I have been working out a lot physically and my arm is improving every day. The bike is still quite new for me because it was only my third time on the new bike in Australia. So I am looking to Donington to improve settings and feelings on the bike. I have been working hard with my personal trainer and I’m more fit and strong than in Australia. I hope to make another step and be nearer the top riders for the second round. For sure Sykes will be a good reference on this track because is his home and he should go well.”

At the start of four days of testing for World Superbike’s factory Kawasaki Racing Team at Sepang in Malaysia, Chris Vermeulen had his first taste of the 2011 Ninja ZX-10R as he made his comeback ride after recuperating from knee surgery.

Unlike his teammates, Tom Sykes and Joan Lascorz, Vermeulen had never ridden the new bike before today and was instantly impressed with it, despite setting a limited number of laps. This was a first ride in Malaysia for Sykes and Lascorz, although Vermeulen has ridden at Sepang on many previous occasions.

Sykes and Lascorz used the first day to familiarize themselves with the wide and comparatively long circuit in the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur and find base settings to work with for the rest of the tests.

Chris Vermeulen said of his first day back in the saddle: “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.”

Also joining the three works KRT riders in Sepang is the Pedercini Kawasaki Team, which will be using the opportunity to learn more from the factory team’s experience with the new Ninja ZX-10R (and seriously needs to update its website). The crews will continue on track tomorrow, take a break for a day on January 12 and then complete their final tests on Thursday and Friday.

The Paul Bird Kawasaki Racing Team heads to Portimao in Portugal for round two of the World Superbike Championship determined to post strong results after experiencing mixed fortunes in the opening round in Australia.

Tom Sykes hopes a new bike setup will help him at Portimao

Tom Sykes scored points last time out but Chris Vermeulen fell at high speed in race two, injuring his right knee, and now approaches this weekend with characteristic determination to be fit to race on Sunday.

Until misfortune struck, both Vermeulen and Sykes looked to be heading towards good results in each Australian race, a factor that gives the whole team confidence that Portimao will be a good weekend and more of a reward for everyone’s hard work in the winter.

Part of those winter preparations was an official test at Portimao in January, although poor weather was a frequent visitor at that time. Those January track sessions were particularly valuable for Chris, who had not ridden at Portimao prior to then.

Weather conditions are expected to be largely dry for all concerned on race weekend on the Algarve coast, which would allow Tom and Chris consistent track conditions to find an optimal raceday set-up.

Tom Sykes:
“I’m really looking forward to the race in Portugal. We’ve learned a lot with the bike since Phillip Island and to be honest I’m really happy with the team set-up and how we are working together. I’m feeling positive about the bike as we have a completely different machine set-up and made valuable progress since we last tested in Portimao in January, which adds to my confidence for a decent result here. I have high expectations for myself and the team and I hope we can deliver a good result.”

Chris Vermeulen:
“The doctors at the Clinica Mobile have already said it is OK for me to race. On Sunday it is going to be four weeks since the accident and really I need two months for everything to heal properly. I sat on the bike today for the first time and it is a little difficult to get my knee into position, but we can lower the footpeg and raise the seat, do whatever we can to help that. The Clinica Mobile will tape up my knee and give me some injections for the pain. I am going out for practice on Friday morning to see what I can do. I am sure it is going to be possible to ride.”

2003 World Supersport champion, 2005 World Superbike runner up and former MotoGP rider Chris Vermeulen makes his return to World Superbikes in 2010 aboard a Paul Bird Kawasaki.

In this installment of the Motourage Video of the Day, Chris recaps his pre-season testing successes and what it’s like to be back on a superbike.