Vermeulen Back On Track

Henny Ray Abrams | March 22, 2011

Chris Vermeulen will make his return to World Superbike racing this weekend, the Kawasaki factory rider set to return to action after missing all of last year and the opening round of this year’s series to a serious knee injury.The 28-year-old Australian returns to the track at Donington Park, the site of round two of the World Superbike Championship. Vermeulen injured his knee in the opening round of last year’s series at Phillip Island in Australia.

“It’s great to welcome Chris back into the team and hopefully he can give a good account of himself now he’s back to somewhere near full fitness,” team owner Paul Bird said in a release today. “This is an important race for the team and I’m expecting all three riders to be strong this weekend. There should be no excuses. We all have good memories of Donington Park over the years and this is our best shot in ages so we’re looking to be at the cutting edge as we know this bike is good enough.”Vermeulen was slated to test at Brands Hatch this week, but so far rain has kept him off the track.

Henny Ray Abrams | Contributing Editor

Abrams is the longest-serving contributor at Cycle News. Over the course of his 35-some years of writing and shooting photos, he’s covered events from MotoGP to the Motocross World Championship - and everything in between.