Vermeulen steps off HRC bike, heads for Brands.

Fresh from finishing second in last weekend's Suzuka 8 Hours World Endurance race, riding a full factory HRC Fireblade on Michelin tyres, Chris Vermeulen returns to his Winston Ten Kate Honda on Pirelli tyres for this weekend's eighth round of the Corona Extra World Superbike championship.

Vermeulen, who was sharing his Suzuka bike with Ten Kate World Supersport rider Katsuaki Fujiwara, admits that his WSBK machine is 'completely different' and will take time to readjust to - but the Australian, who trails championship leader Toy Corser by 94-points, is 'pumped' by his recent achievement and eager to perform well this weekend.

"I'm feeling pretty pumped after the good result for me and Kats (Fujiwara) at the Suzuka 8 Hour. Now I have to make the switch back to my Ten Kate Honda, which feels like a completely different machine to the full HRC bike I rode in Japan on Michelin tyres," he confirmed.

"We had a good test at Lausitzring before going to the 8 Hour, though, and made some more progress with the bike. There's a lot of work to do in the championship and I have to be aiming at finishing in front of Troy to try and close the gap on him. But it's going to be tough because I've never done well at Brands Hatch," admitted Chris.

"I like the layout of the track but it's dangerous in places. I'll have a lot of friends supporting me though, which will be important because it's a big event and the British crowd will be cheering for Walker and Toseland. But England is like my second home really so, as always, I'll just be trying as hard as I can."

"Brands will be difficult for Chris after riding so much last weekend on the 8 Hour machine and Michelin tyres; so I think he'll just use Friday to put in a lot of laps to re-adjust to the Pirellis," added team manager Ronald ten Kate.

Meanwhile, Fujiwara - who missed the previous WSS round at Brno due to a back injury sustained while testing for the 8 Hour - is also aiming to continue the form shown last Sunday.

"I'm looking forward to joining the team again after what seems like a long time out. After Misano, I hurt my back testing for the 8 Hour but I've had some good recovery time at home in Japan and I've been taking heaps of calcium to speed up the healing process," Kats revealed.

"Chris and I got a good result at Suzuka, which was my best ever finish there, so I'm hoping to bring that form back to Europe. It will be a little strange riding the CBR600RR again after six weeks away but Brands Hatch is OK for me and I won the Supersport race there in 2002. I want to win to close the gap on S?bastien (Charpentier, team-mate), so I'll be trying my hardest again this weekend," he declared.