Vermeulen Completes Testing in Spain

Finally, the Kawasaki WSBK racing team test programme in Spain came to an end, with positive results for Chris Vermeulen, who declared himself impressed with the progress which was made the past few weeks. The last days of testing took place at the racing circuit in Jerez, where track conditions became worse by the minute due to the bad weather.

“It rained and then stopped raining on the last day and the track surface was never really one way or the other,” he explained.

“I probably did about 45 to 50 laps in the rain on Monday. It was consistent rain and I got a good chance to try out the bike on a wet setting and with wet tyres. I know Jerez quite well and the overall feeling, and how we improved the bike, was very good. I was impressed with the grip level and how we worked with the bike."

“We had some things we wanted to try on the engine side, electronics and suspension and we tried as much as we could in the wet," Vermeulen added. "Normally things relate from wet to dry, within reason. We definitely improved the bike but we really need to re-test some of these parts and settings in the dry again. The next tests will be the official ones at Portimao in late January and that will be good to evaluate where we are compared to our competition.”

“We have had three separate sessions and we have been lucky to have had four dry days in Spain in December, and one consistently wet day to work with. I feel comfortable on the bike now and I like the way the team are working together. The communication in the team has improved a lot and we are all working well, getting stronger and stronger,” the Australian rider concluded.