MotoGP news

Crash costs Vermeulen valuable set-up time

Rizla Suzuki's Chris Vermeulen crashed during the early part of the first practice session at Laguna Seca in America today ruining the Australian star's chance of completing the extensive test schedule he had planned.

Vermeulen (P8, 1.23.217, 27 laps) had just gone to the top of the leader-board before he entered turn two at the 3,610m Californian circuit and locked the front wheel of his Suzuki GSV-R, causing him to crash and slide off into the gravel. Vermeulen was quickly on his feet after suffering no injuries, but was unable to get his bike back on track and due to the access restrictions at Laguna the marshals couldn't return it back to the pits. Vermeulen ran back to the garage and mounted his other bike to continue with the session, but this machine was set-up in a very different way to the previous one and it took him a while to get back in his stride, eventually setting his fastest time of his final lap of the day. Vermeulen is still in a confident mood as he aims for his third podium in succession at Laguna Seca.

"I was really looking forward to coming back to Laguna as it is obviously a track I enjoy, but it wasn't the start I wanted!" Vermeulen said. "On the fourth or fifth lap I was just starting to build up my pace and as I entered turn two I locked the front wheel and went down. Unfortunately the bike was on the outside of the circuit so I was unable to get it back for the rest of the session. I got back to the pits and went out on the other bike but it was set up very differently - geometry wise - and it didn't quite work as well as we'd hoped around here.

"The main thing we did find today was that we are still struggling a lot with the front feeling of the bike as it feels quite a bit different to last year. Bridgestone has brought a different front tyre this time to the one I used in 2008 and we're trying to make that work better for us. Apart from that the bike feels quite good and it is accelerating quite well off the corners. I do love riding around here so hopefully tomorrow we can get the bike working better and get closer to the front."

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