Broc Parkes got his first taste of the Ninja ZX-10R on Friday, when the all-new Paul Bird Motorsport-Kawasaki Superbike Racing Team kicked off its first test for 2009 at the sunny circuit of Almería in Spain.

Parkes, who competed in the WSS this year, is determined to get to grips with the Ninja ZX-10R before the season starts and his job was made a little bit more easier too, as his experienced team-mate Makoto Tamada, who is going into his second season on the Ninja, was on hand to give him some advice.

The Kawasaki Motocard.com WSS team meanwhile was also in action and fired up the brand new 2009 Ninja ZX-6R.

Katsuaki Fujiwara and Joan Lascorz were both present, the latter, like Parkes, delighted to get a go on his new bike.

Testing now concludes on Saturday, with more outings planned in the coming weeks, ahead of the next official test, organised by the World Championship series organiser FGSport, which will be held from January 23-25 at the new Portimao track in Portugal.