Vermeulen on the podium at Rizla Suzuki MotoGP’s ‘home’
Grand Prix
 Chris
Vermeulen raced to a tremendous third-place at Donington Park
today to give Rizla Suzuki MotoGP a podium in front of nearly
85,000 home fans at the British Grand Prix.
Heavy rain had fallen over the 4km English circuit all day,
including during this morning’s warm-up session that
saw Vermeulen become a victim of the treacherous conditions
as he suffered another big crash. As the race began the rain
started to ease off and Vermeulen got off to a great start,
getting up to third position by the second lap, but a problem
with misting inside his helmet visor saw the Australian’s
visibility hampered and he dropped back to fifth and at one
point ran off the track.
As the rain ceased Vermeulen was able to lift his visor and
clear the misting, and then set about chasing down the riders
in front of him. He caught and passed both team-mate John
Hopkins and then Valentino Rossi, and was catching second-placed
man Colin Edwards in the closing stages, but just ran out
of laps as he tried to haul him in. Today’s race was
won by championship leader Casey Stoner on his Bridgestone-shod
Ducati.
Hopkins recorded his best ever wet race finish by crossing
the line in fifth position. The Anglo- American got a good
start and was in a podium place early on in the race, but
as the track started to form a dry-line he was unable to take
advantage. His fifth place today was also his fifth top-five
finish of the season so far, and leaves him in fifth place
in the championship overall, with team-mate Vermeulen just
above in fourth.
Rizla Suzuki MotoGP stays in third place in the team’s
championship and it will be looking to continue with its strong
run of form when the next GP gets underway at Assen in the
Netherlands in only six days time on Saturday 30th June.
Chris Vermeulen:
“It was very wet to start with and then dried out later
on and that made the conditions very difficult. But my team
and Bridgestone deserve full marks for picking the best tyres
for today – they certainly knew what they were doing!
I also want give my crew an extra special thank-you because
for the second day running I crashed heavily in the morning
and they again managed to get the bike rebuilt in time, so
thanks guys! As far as the race went, I felt comfortable early
on, but then had some trouble seeing through my visor. A couple
of riders came past me and I ran off the track, I was struggling
to see so much that I could have hit a wall or a spectator
or anything and not have known! When the rain stopped I was
able to lift my visor up a bit and that cleared the misting
and I was able to push harder again. I passed John and Valentino
and very nearly caught Colin but I ran out of laps. I am very
happy to be on the podium and now let’s go and do it
again – preferably in the dry!”
John Hopkins:
“Firstly congratulations to Chris, it is great to see
a Suzuki on the podium again, I wish it had been me but he
is pretty good in the wet! I got a decent start to the race
and had a couple of battles early on with other riders. As
the rain stopped falling it created a dry line which was difficult
for me because although most riders take that line it’s
not the one that I always take! For the most part I’m
pleased with the result; we finished in the top-five again
and got some good points. We need to get a run of dry races
now because I think with the Suzuki and Bridgestone package
can be competitive wherever we go. I hope it will be dry at
Assen next weekend as that is a place I really enjoy and I
want to get a good result there so I can climb up that championship
table.”
Paul Denning – Team Manager:
“A great team result in awful conditions. Chris has
had a really tough weekend – having crashed three times
– but he put it all together today and rode a strong
race. The way he hunted down Valentino from so far back was
just great to watch.
“John also performed really well today, especially
in the full wet conditions at the start when it looked like
he could have passed anyone on the brakes at any point on
the circuit. I think it became very difficult for both the
guys when the track started drying out and it was tough to
read the conditions and know how hard to push. I would like
to say well done to everyone in the team for preparing the
bikes so well and to both the riders for keeping their wits
about them and bringing the GSV-Rs home in high points scoring
positions.”
Nickel & Dime British Grand Prix Race Classification:
1. Casey Stoner (Ducati) 51’40.739: 2. Colin Edwards
(Yamaha) +11.768: 3. CHRIS VERMEULEN (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP)
+15.678: 4. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) +21.827: 5. JOHN HOPKINS
(RIZLA SUZUKI MOTPGP) +35.518:
World Championship Classification:
1. Stoner 165: 2. Rossi 139: 3. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 106:
4. CHRIS VERMEULEN (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) 88: 5. JOHN HOPKINS
(RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) 83:
|
