Fighting fifth in France for Vermeulen, strong seventh for
Capirossi
 Rizla
Suzuki MotoGP racer Chris Vermeulen celebrated his best result
so far this season by finishing in an impressive fifth position
at Le Mans in France today, with team-mate Loris Capirossi
crossing the line in an equally strong seventh place.
Vermeulen started from eighth on the grid and made up a couple
of places on the first lap. He then set three personal-best
laps in succession as he moved into fifth place, and the Australian
was in touch with the leaders as light rain started to fall
on the 4’185m circuit. Track officials waved the white
flags to signify that pit-lane was open if the riders wanted
to change to their wet weather bikes, but Vermeulen - like
most riders – chose to stay out and consolidate his
position. He had a couple of narrow escapes as the track surface
got very slippery from the rain, but he brought the Rizla
Suzuki GSV-R home safely to score valuable championship points
for himself and the team.
Capirossi made a strong start from the fourth row of the
grid and was up to seventh by the end of lap two. He was involved
in a race long battle with a large group of riders, which
also resulted in one of them pushing Capirossi off the track
and on to the grass. The experienced Italian lost some places
but battled back to take a hard, but well earned nine championship
points.
Today’s race started in bright sunshine with track
temperatures at 26ºC, as the light drizzle fell the temperatures
cooled off, but this didn’t dampen the spirits of over
74,000 fans at trackside who were treated to a comprehensive
victory by Valentino Rossi – a win that puts him joint
second, with Angel Nieto, in the all-time list of Grand Prix
victories by a rider.
Rizla Suzuki MotoGP will now stay in at Le Mans for a further
day of testing, before moving on to Capirossi’s home
GP at Mugello in Italy on Sunday 1st June.
Chris Vermeulen:
“Well that was alright – I guess! I’m happy
with the weekend, we made some progress and we finally got
some good points on the board. I am a little disappointed
with fifth because I was really hoping I’d have a bit
more pace to be able to fight with the front guys. I felt
I was just that little bit behind and just couldn’t
close the gap. We are testing here tomorrow so hopefully we
can try and improve a few more things on the bike, and make
more steps in Mugello.
“I want to say a big thanks to my crew, they’ve
worked out all the issues we had from China and the Rizla
Suzuki GSV-R worked great all weekend and we had no problems
at all.”
Loris Capirossi:
“It has been really hard for me all weekend; we just
couldn’t go as quick as we wanted to. We made some changes
yesterday and went a bit better, but today we struggled in
warm-up. In the race we didn’t get the result we are
looking for and seventh is not our target, but we scored some
good points and we must wait for it to be our moment to go
quick! I was pushed onto the grass by another rider and maybe
I could have had a better result, but that is racing and he
has come and apologised so that’s all good. Our potential
is not too bad, but we still need to discover something new
so we can go a bit quicker.”
Paul Denning – Team Manager:
“The Rizla Suzuki MotoGP team has made some steps here
at Le Mans, and has backed those up with a good solid result
and a committed performance from both riders today. Chris
has really found his rhythm this weekend and in the first
part of the race fought his way through superbly, from his
eighth position start, into fifth. He was pushing to catch
the lead group and maintaining a very close gap every lap,
but just couldn’t close it down to join the fight. When
the rain came he nearly crashed twice and he took the right
decision to bring the bike home for his best finish –
so far – this season.
“Loris is disappointed with seventh, but it has been
a tough weekend for him and he shouldn’t be. He showed
again today that he really wants it and will fight just as
hard for seventh as he will for first. We are convinced that
as we improve the bike and we get everything to a better level,
that fighting spirit will allow him to target the podium finishes
that he wants so much.
“After a difficult Shanghai I’d like to say well
done to the team for their efforts this weekend, and let’s
hope this is the first step back to where we all want to be,
and that’s battling at the front!”
Alice Grand Prix de France race Classification:
1. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 44’30.799: 2. Jorge Lorenzo
(Yamaha) +4.997: 3. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) +6.805: 4. Dani
Pedrosa (Honda) +10.157: 5. CHRIS VERMEULEN (RIZLA SUZUKI
MOTOGP) +21.762: 7. LORIS CAPIROSSI (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP)
+27.806:
World Championship Classification:
1. Rossi 97: 2. Lorenzo 94: 3. Pedrosa 94: 4. Casey Stoner
(Ducati) 56: 5. Edwards 47: 6. LORIS CAPIROSSI (RIZLA SUZUKI
MOTOGP) 42: 12. CHRIS VERMEULEN (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) 25:
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