Northern Ireland's Jonathan Rea and Eugene Laverty will both be looking to put injuries behind them when they compete this weekend in the 2012 Superbike World Championship in Australia.
Toomebridge's Laverty, racing for Aprilia, suffered a fracture to his left hand in a practice session crash at the Phillip Island circuit last week.
But he now looks set to be back in action, after flying a specialist from Northern Ireland to Australia to help speed his recovery.
"Fortunately, we've had more than a week off the bike which has allowed the hand to improve a huge amount - I feel confident that I'll be fit to ride, but I guess I'll have to wait until Friday to find out," Laverty said.
"Honestly I feel that Carlos Checa and my teammate Max (Biaggi) are out of reach unless I'm 100%, but it won't stop me from trying!"
Meanwhile, Honda rider Rea will be hoping for more success this season than last - when he was sidelined for two months with wrist, arm and collarbone injuries - although he did go on to pick up two wins and finish with an encouraging double podium at Portimão,
"It's been really good just being on track with the others and I'm really enjoying riding the bike," the Ballyclare man said.
"I can really feel what the bike's doing and the electronics are working really well. I'm looking forward to Friday's sessions."
But the 25-year-old insists there's still work to be done if the team are to challenge the Althea Ducati team's defending champion, Spaniard Carlos Checa.
"We're where we kind of expected to be and we know that to win here is going to be a very big task," Rea said.
"Carlos is riding very well and consistently, but we're still changing things on the bike because I'm still not 100% satisfied with the set-up."
Checa remains among the front-runners - along with top rivals Max Biaggi (Laverty's Aprilia teammate) and BMW's Marco Melandri - despite his Ducati carrying a 6kg handicap in an effort to limit its superiority.
American John Hopkins will be out through injury, while British rider Leon Haslam is also a doubt.
Hopkins is recovering from surgery on a fracture to his right hand, just weeks after having part of a finger on the same hand amputated.
Haslam has also undergone surgery on a fractured tibia sustained in a crash earlier this week.
