Kawasaki has confirmed the line-up of its factory-supported teams in both the World Superbike and World Supersport classes for the 2011 racing season.

Chris Vermeulen will ride alongside Tom Sykes and Joan Lascorz, essentially forming a three-man WSBK effort for KRT. The team, being run by the Paul Bird Motorsports squad once more, will be using the all-new Ninja ZX-10R.

Broc Parkes and David Salom will be running in World Supersport for the Kawasaki Provec Motocard.com team, competing on the well-proven Ninja ZX-6R.

Queenslander Vermeulen will start his second season with the factory Kawasaki after he finishes his rehabilitation from reconstructive surgery on his right knee.

“I am working hard to get ready for next year. Kawasaki has been great; they have stood behind me and given me great support,” Vermeulen said. “With three riders Kawasaki is keen to move forward and Tom did a great job on the 2010 bike at the end of the year.

“It is all good to see, and I have already had a close look at the new bike. It looks cool and it certainly seems to be working well already. It’s exciting and I can’t wait to get on the new bike.”

Sykes, like Vermeulen, has been retained for the 2011 Superbike World Championship season, as part of a determined attack on the title with the new Ninja ZX-10R. He is already taking part in an extensive winter test program, including the current track outings at Aragon in Spain.

“It’s great to be staying with Kawasaki as a manufacturer and ride for the Paul Bird team again for 2011,” Sykes said. “We have done some good work together this year and exceeded some of our expectations, so it is nice to stay with PBM Kawasaki team in what will be an important year for us all.

“The new bike is already showing massive potential in testing and we have a lot of sessions planned through the winter. Roll on 2011!”

Promoted from the Supersport division, rising star Lascorz is preparing himself for his latest challenge, in the Superbike class, after several successful seasons for the Spanish rider in WSS racing.

“It’s my dream to continue my relationship with Kawasaki and now I have the chance to ride in World Superbike, on an exciting new machine,” he commented. “I am recovering well from the injuries I picked up in Silverstone and I am looking forward to getting on the Superbike as soon as I can.

“I want to say thank you to Kawasaki for the help and support and I hope to repay them with good results in my rookie year in WSBK racing.”

Paul Risbridger, World Superbike team manager, is excited for the new year.

“I think we have a great mixture of riders, with different backgrounds, different skills, different styles and they will each bring their own approach to the new bike,” he said. “I think that will not only help us develop it faster, but it should give us an edge from track-to-track.

“Sometimes maybe one rider will be the stronger at one circuit, then another rider will be stronger at another circuit, and so on through the year. We are very pleased with the 2011 bike and it has been performing well in testing.”

In Supersport Parkes, already confirmed as a 2011 rider for the Kawasaki Provec Motocard.com team, will be joined by Spanish rider Salom. David has much experience in this class and is thrilled to be in a factory squad with the strong recent track record enjoyed by Kawasaki.

“It’s a great feeling to be riding for Kawasaki in 2011 and we have already done good work in testing, finding new set-ups to take forward to next year,” Parkes said. “This is a great opportunity for me and both the bike and team are well proven in this class. We will be a strong package together in 2011.”

Salom is stoked with the opputunity to join Parkes in the all-new line-up.

“I’m very happy with the opportunity,” he said. “I know many riders want to ride the official Ninja ZX-6R so I am a little lucky to be the one chosen. I hope my experience in World Supersport can be a good point to add to the team and next year improve my results a little. I want to say thanks to Kawasaki and Motocard.com for giving me this great opportunity.”

KME racing manager Ichiro Yoda believes this will be Kawasaki’s best year yet sine returning to WSBK.

“We believe that three riders giving information inside the PBM team will speed up the process of developing the all-new Ninja ZX-10R, and help tune up the new bike’s potential very quickly,” he said. “Then, obviously, we hope to be highly competitive from the very beginning of next season.

“For WSS, we are very happy to work with Broc Parkes, who was ex-WSB rider for us, and along with David Salom there is a big racing passion and high motivation to succeed next year. We feel confidence with them and the Provec team management to achieve our target of winning that championship.”