Vermeulen fights back as Capirossi suffers cruel blow
 Rizla
Suzuki MotoGP racer Chris Vermeulen raced to a close seventh
place finish at the Catalan Grand Prix near Barcelona today,
as team-mate Loris Capirossi’s race came to an abrupt
end when another rider crashed into him.
Vermeulen got a solid start from the third row of the grid,
but was hit on the first lap by Alex de Angelis and relegated
down to 14th place. He fought his way back through the field
and was closing in on sixth place on the last lap, missing
out on a top-six finish by 0.066 seconds at the chequered
flag.
Capirossi made a good start from 12th and was up into eighth
place by lap two, before disaster struck for the experienced
Italian on the 11th lap. Capirossi was hit from behind by
- also by de Angelis - causing him to crash at high speed
and injure his hand in the process. He was immediately taken
the trackside clinic where he was found to have a dislocated
fracture of the fifth right metacarpus and a deep wound with
loss of skin to his fifth right finger. He will not be able
to ride in tomorrow’s test, but hopes to be back to
fitness as soon as possible.
A record-breaking crowd at the Circuit de Catalunya of over
113,000 enjoyed warm sunshine and a comprehensive start to
finish victory by local hero Dani Pedrosa on his factory Honda.
Valentino Rossi on his Bridgestone-shod Yamaha was second
and stays on top of the World Championship classification.
Rizla Suzuki MotoGP will now stay in Catalunya for a two-day
test, when Vermeulen will be joined by Team Test Rider Nobuatsu
Aoki. The team will next be in competitive action at its ‘home’
Grand Prix at Donington Park in England on Sunday 22nd June.
Chris Vermeulen:
“I made a reasonable start and had good first and second
corners, but then I was hit by de Angelis and I lost few positions.
I got myself back together but with everybody being so quick
and close on lap-times it made it very difficult to pass.
I got through the field and up to seventh, but I feel if I
had had a better start I could have been in the top-five.
I really want to pass on a lot of thanks to the team because
they gave me a great bike for here and it was very consistent
all weekend. I have to work on my qualifying and there is
still a little area of the bike where we are struggling with
grip and the way it uses the tyre, so hopefully in the next
two days of testing we can work on that. I hope Loris is going
to be alright soon, because he is a big part to our development
and I wish him all the best.”
Loris Capirossi:
“It has been a really bad end to the weekend, because
I felt that everything was working well on the bike and I
felt good. I think I could have fought with Chris and James
Toseland, but de Angelis tried a bit too hard and put me out
of the race. But this is racing and sometimes things like
this happen. Now I have to be careful because I have an injury
and it will not be so easy for me to recover for the two races
in one week. We will see, but I will certainly try to recover
as quickly as I can!”
Paul Denning – Team Manager:
“MotoGP is not an easy sport but we weren’t done
any favours today! When de Angelis rammed Loris off the track
in turn three the result was a fracture of his right hand.
The dislocated fracture has been put back into position very
skilfully by Dr. Costa, and the bone has been set in a cast.
The normal recovery time for that injury is some weeks, but
Loris seems keen to try and be fit for Donington in 12 days
time. Whether that is realistic or not, the next few days
will tell! Loris gave everything – as always –
and deserved a lot better for all his efforts.
“Chris rode a very strong race after a difficult first
lap that saw him a long way down the field. His recovery into
the top-10 was excellent and with a better start he had the
pace today to fight for fifth. Unfortunately the guys at the
front had more pace than us and as we have said in recent
weeks it is important to try and improve the bike’s
performance over race distance.
“Clearly Loris won’t be able to test here over
the next two days, so his duties will now be undertaken by
Nobuatsu, and Chris’s crew and the factory will be evaluating
all the possibilities of getting the GSV-R as competitive
as we can possibly make it for Donington and Assen in a couple
of weeks time.”
Gran Premi Cinzano de Catalunya Race Classification:
1. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 43’02.175: 2. Valentino Rossi
(Yamaha) +2.806: 3. Casey Stoner (Ducati) +3.343: 4. Andrea
Dovizioso (Honda) +10.893: 5. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) +16.426:
7. CHRIS VERMEULEN (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +21.548: DNF. LORIS
CAPIROSSI (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP):
World Championship Classification:
1. Rossi 142: 2. Pedrosa 135: 3. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 94:
4. Stoner 92: 5. Edwards 69: 8. LORIS CAPIROSSI (RIZLA SUZUKI
MOTOGP) 51: 11. CHRIS VERMEULEN (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) 40:
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