2011 World Superbike
Nearing the end of his long period of recovery from knee surgery, Kawasaki Racing Team rider Chris Vermeulen came back to competitive track action at Donington World Superbike, for a time at least.
Vermeulen was withdrawn from the World Superbike races themselves to help his long-term injury recuperate fully before undertaking an entire race weekend.
That full comeback should take place at Assen in two-week’s time, at another circuit he knows well. Vermeulen is currently riding a 600cc Kawasaki machine in Spain to help him make steady improvements in a pressure-free fashion, and he spoke to us about his hopes for the next weekend.
Chris Vermeulen (Kawasaki Racing Team ZX-10R) says: “I do not expect it to be easy physically but I expect to be able to compete for the whole weekend. The hard thing is doing three days back-to-back then on the third day it will be two long races.
“That is going to be the hard thing physically but mentally I have not raced for a long time, almost nine months I think since I actually raced. Just spending time on the Superbike recently I have done a total of around 60 laps, half of them at Cadwell Park.
“But I am excited to come back for a full weekend. Realistically, I do not think we are going to set the world on fire but hopefully we can get something out of the bike and show a bit of potential and some speed again.”
