Australian Superbike rider Chris Vermeulen is confident his Kawasaki team will be a genuine world contender in 2010.
Vermeulen, who is returning to the WSBK after four years in MotoGP, completed his first test on his new bike in Spain last week and conceded there is plenty of scope for improvement.
"It was a really positive test at Cartagena," said Vermeulen. "I now have a good base set-up and a solid platform to work from for the rest of the pre-season."
"For sure there's still a lot of work to be done, and I certainly wouldn't be challenging right at the front if the championship was starting now."
"I'm under no illusions how hard it's going to be in 2010, but the goal is to get this thing up the front and I'll be doing all I can to make that happen."
After parting ways with Australia's Broc Parkes and Japan's Makota Tamada at the end of the 2009 season, Kawasaki immediately swooped on Vermeulen to lead its team for the next two years.
Former Yamaha rider Tom Sykes will be the second rider on the team and the duo will race on Kawasaki's unchanged ZX-10R, which has so far struggled to keep up with its competitors.
The team will take on a new bike in 2011 and Vermeulen is already looking forward to that.
"I will also be involved with development of the new bike, which is something I am very excited about," he said. "Understandably, there will be a major focus on that bike, but first we've got to get through 2010 on the current model."
"If we can consistently challenge for top five spots on that bike I'll be happy, but things can always change. If I win the first four races, then I'll obviously have to revise that goal."
"But there are plenty of great riders in the class, and it's going to be a massively hard year - and the dynamics have changed a little since I was last there."
"But I now feel I'm technically a better rider, and I have a better understanding of how to set up a bike. That's the experience I'm looking to bring across to Kawasaki."
Kawasaki only has one WSBK title to its credit, way back in 1993, but Vermeulen is determined to lift it back to glory and hasn't lost any belief despite riding for an uncompetitive team in MotoGP.
"I certainly didn't lose any belief, and I feel like I can still ride. I'm looking forward to showing the WSBK paddock that I've still got what it takes," he said.
"I'm up for this challenge, as are all the engineers and people behind the scenes."
"I love WSBK racing and I'm delighted to be back - it's going to be a sensational year of competition, and I hope we're battling up the front."
Vermeulen has two more Spanish tests scheduled before Christmas before the 2010 championship kicks off at Phillip Island from February 26-28.