Kawasaki WSB factory team at Brands Hatch BSB

Makoto Tamada and Broc Parkes will ride their factory WSB Kawasakis in the Brands Hatch BSB triple-header on August 8/9.

Their appearance marks a return of Vent-Axia, Kick Energy-backed Paul Bird Motorsports to the BSB paddock – the former double BSB championship winning team.

History will be in the making as Tamada becomes the first rider ever to compete in BSB having won a MotoGP race – and the Japanese rider is a fan of the Brands Hatch circuit, as indeed is former double runner-up in the World Supersport Championship, Parkes.

Tamada said: “This will be my third time riding at Brands Hatch. In the past it’s been a difficult track for me but I’m looking forward to the BSB opportunity to improve my fitness on the bike after missing five races due to the Monza crash injury.

“The British Superbike championship is very well respected and I know the guys are fast so it’s a good chance for us as a team to gauge our progress and to have more track time so we can develop the bike further and finish the WSB season as strong as we can.”

Parkes added: “When they announced that there was no Brands Hatch race on the 2009 WSB calendar I was really disappointed as I really like the circuit and enjoy racing there.

“The fact that we need as much time on the track as possible with the Ninja ZX-10R to test means that the Brands BSB opportunity will be a good one for the team during the August WSB break. I’m really looking forward to it.”

The team is run by the out-spoken and oftencontroversial Cumbrian poultry magnate Paul Bird and prior to making the switch to WSB two years ago, the then MonsterMob Ducati team won the BSB title in 2002 with the late Steve Hislop before Shane Byrne retained the crown for the same team the following year.

Additionally,  TT legend John McGuinness won the 1999 250cc British Championship in Vimto Honda colours for the team and current BSB star Stuart Easton, who combines his role as the KSRT test rider with his duties for Hydrex Honda in BSB, took the 2002 British Supersport Championship also for the PBM Team riding a Ducati.

Bird said: “It will be good to come back to do a meeting in BSB. It’s where we cut our teeth and enjoyed much of our past success.

“Both riders love Brands Hatch and it’s a shame were not racing there in WSB this season but we couldn’t pass over the chance to race at such a great place.”