Sofuoglu won the first race of the year in Australia on his first ever Kawasaki ride, but after Foret secured the win for the Intermoto Step Kawasaki team last time out at Imola Fabien jumped into an impressive 16-point lead in the championship. Foret’s early exploits have proved that it is not only the main official Ninja ZX-6R machines that can compete at the highest levels in WSS racing, as other Kawasaki-equipped teams are now taking a share of the silverware.

Sofuoglu, who used to live in the Netherlands, is a big fan of the Assen layout, having won there twice before in WSS. He is also enthused by his first experiences of the Ninja ZX-6R and thinks his machine will be a good match for the high speed curves and many banked corners that characterise this historic circuit in the north of the Netherlands.

A potential podium for Morais at Imola last time out was not to be but the determined South African rider has the top step in his sights as he makes the transition from Superstock to Supersport at absolutely full pace.

In the championship fight Foret leads with 45 points, with Sofuoglu third on 25 and Morais seventh on 16 after two rounds.

Kenan Sofuoglu: “Assen is not a bad track for me and I think it will be good for us this weekend. In the high-speed sections and smooth sections you need a lot of torque and we have good torque on our Kawasaki.

I have been riding Supermotard at home in Turkey to stay as race fit as I can but I was still having a lot of pain in my knee until recently. My doctor in Turkey gave me some painkillers and with the help of those I can now ride for a lot of laps without too much discomfort. So it looks like everything is going well and I should not need another operation to remove the screw in my left knee. I am feeling better and better all the time.

The only thing is that I feel tired today because I have done so many laps on my Supermotard bike! We lost some points at Imola but I am getting my confidence back, especially as I have been going well on the Supermotard bike. I hope I am 100% at the Assen race because I am really missing the feeling of winning again.”

Sheridan Morais: “I think our chances are pretty good but obviously the question on everyone’s mind is what the weather will be like. Assen does sort of have its own weather! I do not mind if it is raining because I can go pretty well in those conditions. I am just looking forward to the weekend whatever the weather does.

Imola ended on a bit of a downer after a good start but that has just made me all the more determined and hungry for the weekend coming. We had hoped to get a small test in Italy before Assen but the weather been so bad here that we did not got the opportunity. Our bikes are really, really good at the moment and we stand a good chance at Assen.”

See more news plus add your own comments, on the Kawasaki News UK Facebook site.

Follow Kawasaki on Twitter @Kawasaki-news