The opening round of the 2009 World Supersport Championship at Phillip Island is the first chance for the new Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R to show its capabilities in race trim. The Provec Motocard.com World Supersport Team will field proven WSS race winners Katsuaki Fujiwara and Joan Lascorz in official Kawasaki colours, and after completing their European test programme the exciting WSS rider pairing are eagerly waiting the chance to race for real on their impressive new machines. Lascorz has been consistently quick in testing, while Fujiwara has spent the majority of his track time on pure development and evaluation of new components and set-up options. After a recent test at Calafat in Spain the riders and the entire team were able to concentrate most of their efforts on more direct preparations for this Sunday’s WSS race, the first of 14 on the calendar this year. Joan Lascorz: “Our most recent test at Calafat really gave us a chance to get ready for this race at Phillip Island, even if some of the teams that tested in Australia last week will have more options ready in the opening practice sessions. We made real progress with our overall set-up in the final day at Calafat, so we will just have to see how the track is in Australia when we start practice. I feel confident for the first round.” Katsuaki Fujiwara: “I have done so much testing of new parts in the winter, and working in so many different areas to develop the new bike that I am glad to prepare for a real race now. I was happy with the testing lap times in Spain and even though Joan was faster than me, he was experiencing the same feelings with the bike. I just have to find more pace from within myself. I have spent the last couple of weeks focusing on my preparations for racing in Australia, and I will be going all out for a good result.”