British Superbike Series Director Stuart Higgs has this afternoon confirmed that Kawasaki have re-affirmed their commitment to the 2009 BSB series and will be racing this year.

The factory canned its MotoGP team officially this morning but a statement from Japan confirmed that they would still support production-based racing.

Higgs spoke with Kawasaki's UK bos Howard Dale and told bikesportnews.com at lunchtime: "We are pleased to be able to re-affirm Kawasaki’s commitment to the 2009 British Superbike Championship following this morning’s announcement about the company’s MotoGP team, and both Kawasaki UK, MSS and Hawk remain enthusiastic participants for the coming season."

Kawasaki's WSB team boss Paul Bird also confirmed to bikesportnews.com today that his squad's plans were going ahead.