Jamie Hacking has been confirmed as the replacement rider for the injured Makoto Tamada at the next two rounds of the World Superbike Championship. Hacking impressed with his stand-in rides at Miller Motorsports Park last weekend, and the fact that he has no clashes with his AMA Daytona SportBike racing commitments made him an obvious and popular choice to continue his working relationship with the Kawasaki World Superbike Racing Team. He will ride at Misano, on June 21, and follow that one weekend later with his third WSB outing of the year, at Donington Park on June 28. For Hacking, who has already ridden at his home race in Miller, the Donington event will be another highlight, as he was born in the UK before emigrating with his family to the USA at a young age. The harmonious links between Kawasaki’s global and national racing teams have made it straightforward for first Sheridan Morais (at Kyalami) and now Hacking to ease into Makoto’s stand-in role, proving that the Kawasaki family has pulled together well to ensure its strong presence in World Superbike racing continues at a high level. The team finally decided to go with Hacking again simply to give Tamada, who suffered hand injuries at the Monza round of the championship, a proper period of recuperation before the official Imola test session (scheduled for 15 – 16 July) and the subsequent race at Brno, on July 26.