Vermeulen: We've improved Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R

Kawasaki World Superbike Racing Team rider Chris Vermeulen is upbeat after ending an intense period of recent testing activity with two days of riding at Jerez in Spain.

Vermeulen believes the squad have made great progress over the last few weeks and despite losing almost all of the final day as track conditions took a turn for the worse, he was happy with the final test of 2009.

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

In contrast though, the opening day gave him a valuable opportunity to ride his machine in uniformly wet conditions for the very first time.

"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," he continued. "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.

"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."

All-in-all, the MotoGP refugee is more than satisfied with his first few experiences on the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R.

"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," he summed-up.