Vermeulen targets New Year return
Added on Monday, October 25th, 2010 by Carole Nash Editor
Vermeulen targets New Year return
Chris Vermeulen has claimed that he plans to return to action in January after a World Superbike season dogged by a knee injury.
Speaking on a video podcast on his official website, the Australian claimed that he could be able to get back on his Kawasaki before the end of the year, with a return date of December or January thought to be pencilled in.
“I’ve had a ten week check-up since my operation in Barcelona and they (the doctors) are really happy and surprised with how my knee looks,” said the former Superbike and MotoGP race winner. “It was a major surgery. I got a new piece of meniscus on the lateral side of my knee where it was very badly damaged and I also got a new ligament. It was a very big job and a complete recovery is around nine to twelve months before my body can accept the new parts. But after ten weeks I have over 90 degrees bend in my knee and I’m working hard with my physio doing 20 minutes of work on the knee every hour that I am awake. In three or four weeks time I might be able to throw the crutches away.”
The positive news should enable Vermeulen to return to the track for Kawasaki’s first tests of 2011 in early January. With Tom Sykes and Katsuaki Fujiwara both doing sterling testing work on the new ZX-10R, the Aussie is itching to getting out on the new bike as soon as possible.
“With the rate of my recovery, I will definitely be able to ride the bike at the end of December or January, which fits in great with Kawasaki’s testing. At the moment we plan to start our new year test early in January. The doctors say I won’t do any more damage to my knee when I’m on the bike.”
