The Kawasaki Superbike Racing Team returns to action after a five week summer break when the Nurburgring hosts the tenth round of the World Superbike Championship this forthcoming weekend.
Both Joan Lascorz and Tom Sykes will be hoping for a good performance at Germany's most evocative and famous circuit, located in the Eifel Mountains in the north west of the country, especially after the disappointment of Silverstone last time out.
It was back at the Paul Bird Motorsport team's home round that Yorkshireman Sykes was injured during qualifying and didn't race and Spanish rider Lascorz was forced out of the second race after a clash with another rider so both riders are keen to address the situation for the Penrith based team.
Sykes is returning to action following a chipped bone in his right ankle. He rates himself ready to race at the 5.137km long circuit in Germany, having had a month off from race action while working to get back to full fitness whereas Lascorz took part in a British Superbike Championship round at Brands Hatch after the Silverstone weekend.
So far this season, Lascorz has scored two top five placings in his rookie WSB campaign and Sykes won the Superpole contest at Misano, then only just missed out on a podium finish by one place at the same venue. Currently Lascorz is 11th in the championship standings while Tom is only 15 points from a top ten spot in 14th place.
Third official Kawasaki rider Chris Vermeulen is still working on recovering full strength in his injured left elbow and will miss the German race.
Joan Lascorz: "It was interesting to race at Brands Hatch in the BSB series recently but finding the right bike set-up was a little more difficult compared to some other circuits. It was a very intense circuit and I think it was good preparation for the Nurburgring race which we come to this weekend. It gave me the chance to practice more on the bike and feel good so we will see how things go in Germany as this will be my first time there on a Superbike. But I think if we can have a good practice we can make good results."
Tom Sykes: "My ankle is getting stronger all the time so I will be ready for Germany. The Nurburgring is definitely one of my favourite circuits as it is quite unique in some ways. It goes up and down a lot, it is quite flowing and I like those sections where the corners roll into each other. A lot of the track takes quite a bit of courage in some ways and the circuit in general lends itself to my style of riding a bit more than some. I hope I can pick up where we left off before my injury at Silverstone."
Paul Bird, Team Owner: "Things certainly didn't go our way at Silverstone so I'm really hoping we can get that bit of a break and a little luck this weekend which we have been so desperately short of this season. With Joan's lack of experience around the track and Tom coming back after injury, it's going to be a challenging weekend but hopefully both riders can put on a good show and we can get the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R well up the leaderboard where it rightfully belongs."
Meanwhile, Ulsterman Keith Farmer will make his foreign debut at the German round of the World Superbike Championship when he rides a Paul Bird Motorsport-prepared Kawasaki ZX-10R in the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup.
The former Supermoto champion from Clogher raced at Silverstone and came home an impressive 16th on his World Championship debut; beating many established riders in his first ever race on a 1000cc Kawasaki ZX-10R.
Farmer is managed by PBM and has impressed on his debut season in road racing whereby he currently leads the Metzeler National Superstock 600 Championship by a healthy 36 points.
The opening race gets underway on Sunday 4th September at 12.00 CET with race two at 15.30 CET and British viewers can catch the action live on British Eurosport.
