The Kawasaki Racing Team will feature British Superbike regular Simon Andrews this coming weekend at Valencia’s third round of the Superbike World Championship, as Australian Chris Vermeulen recovers from keyhole surgery on his injured right knee.

Regular rider Tom Sykes and Andrews have each tested at Valencia in the past week in a two-day session that delivered valuable information to the team and to each rider, the test confirming Andrews for the WSBK race weekend.

“I am excited by the chance of riding for the Kawasaki Racing Team in World Superbike this weekend,” Andrews said. “It was good of them to give me the chance to test before the race. It went well, we all worked hard and moved forwards. It was also good to have raced last weekend in BSB as I have already had a taste of competition. From a rider’s point of view it is good to work with the people they have in the KRT set-up.”

Vermeulen had keyhole surgery to clean up the residue left in his knee on Friday, and although he misses the Valencia race he is working to be fit for the next round after that at Assen on 25 April.

“I had keyhole surgery on my right knee on Friday, by a renowned surgeon called Dr Claes, in Belgium,” explained the Queenslander. “He cut out some damaged meniscus and tidied up some damaged ligaments and this should speed up the recovery time and help with gaining more movement in my right knee.

“Unfortunately I missed last week’s test in Valencia and will now miss the Valencia race also, but at this stage I am working hard on being fit for Assen. I will be wishing the team the best of luck for this weekend.”