Vermeulen preps for full Assen comeback

Article from http://www.worldsbk.com/en/news/5-news/6998-vermeulen-preps-for-full-assen-comeback.html

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, for a time at least. He was withdrawn from the races themselves to help his long-term injury recuperate fully before undertaking an entire race weekend.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. Chris 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.

"I do not expect it to be easy physically but I expect to be able to compete for the whole weekend," said Chris. "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."