Chris Vermeulen
From Powersports Information Wiki Source
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chris Vermeulen (born June 19, 1982 in Brisbane, Australia) is a motorcycle racer competing for the Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Team in the MotoGP class of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing. Vermeulen, regarded as a wet-weather expert, made the transition from dirt track racing to road racing in 1998 before eventually landing in the realms of Australian Superbike and Superstock championship, and into elite MotoGP series.
Contents |
Personal Life
Chris is the son of Peter and Julie Vermeulen. He is one of four children, along with her sisters Sheree, Jessica and Renita. Chris, also known as Vermin on account of his last name, is a native of Yandina, Sunshine Coast, Queensland. When he is not racing, he enjoys indulging in other athletic-type of activities such as running and mountainbiking, in addition to driving tractors, motocross, and cattle farming. He likes to listen to rock bands Metallica and Rammstein, likes to eat Italian food, and considers the Suzuki GSVR and his 1954 Ford F100 and 1933 Ford Coupe Hot Rod as his favorite vehicles. The Hazel-eyed Chris has a penchant for collecting old American Hot Rod cars and has a few in his collection.
Early Career
Vermeulen competed in dirt track racing in his homeland in 1993, and in a span of five years, had bagged 10 State titles and claimed three runner-up finishes in the national level. In 1998, he switched to road racing and competed in three rounds of Australian 250cc GP and 600, winning two races on a 250cc GP machine. A year later and only a few professional racing experience tucked under his belt, he tested his mettle in the Australian Superbike Championship and did quite well after securing an 8th place finish in the championship with his Yamaha motorcycle. In addition, he had a best finish of fourth and won the privateer championship for non-factory riders.
Superbike
As per the advice of his mentor Barry Sheene, Vermeulen made a move to Europe in 2000 and earned a ride for the Sanyo Honda team, competing aboard Supersport and Superstock bikes. He claimed a win in the Donington round of the European Superstock Championship, and then competed in the British Supersport and Superstock Championships, earning his first Supersport win and collected five Superstock race victories. He also made his debut at the World Supersport and had a best finish of sixth in the Championship.
His initial success paved the way for a ride with the Castrol Honda Team in the 2001 World Supersport championship. It turned out to be a difficult year for the teenage racer as he managed to bag only three top 10 finishes and a single top 5 finish for an overall ranking of 17th in the championship.
The disappointing turnout in 2001 prompted a switch to the Van Zon Honda Team the following year. 2002 turned out to be a better year as he garnered two poles and two podiums aside from figuring well within the top 10 in most races, enroute to placing 7th in the World Supersport Championship.
In 2003, Vermeulen would sign a contract to race for Dutch team owner Gerrit Ten Kate's reigning World Supersport Champion team, the Ten Kate Honda Team. As the designated lead rider of the squad, Vermeulen made quite an impact after winning four out of the 11 rounds to go along with four runner-up finishes and three pole-positions which was good enough for the World Supersport Championship. That accomplishment put the Aussie on the record books as the youngest ever WSS Champion.
World Superbike
His feat at the World Supersport Championship did not go unnoticed as team owner Ten Kate rewarded Vermeulen with a ride with Honda's new Fireblade at the World Superbike championship in 2004. Despite riding a unfully developed Fireblade throughout the championships, Vermeulen managed to keep in step with the competition, winning four times and even held the lead for the overall title for awhile before dropping into fourth place at the tourney's conclusion. Still, being the only non-Ducati rider in the top 8 was viewed by some as an achievement nonetheless.
In 2005, he continued to compete for Ten Kate alongside Karl Muggeridge and with title sponsorship from Winston. That year, eventhough the competition got stiffer with several Yamaha and Suzuki bikes competing, Vermeulen still found a way to snatch poles and victories, claiming his maiden pole at Assen in Holland (the birthplace of his grandfather) and winning his first race at Imola to keep in step with Alstare Suzuki's Troy Corser. However, the lead piled up by Corser in the early stages of the series was too much for Vermeulen to overhaul and in the end, he would still finish the series as the runner-up. By then, his exploits has started to get into the radar of MotoGP scouts and before the year's end, he would secure his first ride in MotoGP.
MotoGP
Vermeulen drew interest from teams such as Camel Honda and Team Suzuki. An injury to Troy Bayliss would give him an opportunity to ride a Camel Pons Honda GP bike in the latter stages of the championship, with his debut taking place at his home GP in Phillip Island. He managed to qualify in 14th place and finished 11th in the race, then on his second race, he would qualify and finish on the 11th spot just ahead of factory Honda Max Biaggi. Although he did pretty well on those two races, rumors that he had signed for Team Suzuki prevented him from racing on the season finale at Valencia. A full-time stint at Honda also did not materialize as the team could only offer him another year in World Superbike. He eventually decided to join John Hopkins at team Suzuki for the 2006 season.
2006
Although the Suzuki vehicles paled in comparison to factory Hondas, Yamahas and Ducatis in terms of specification, Vermeulen utilized his skills to the hilt and took a wet pole position in round three at Istanbul and claimed his first dry pole position in the US GP at Laguna Seca. During that race, Vermeulen was closing in on a maiden podium but was turned down by fuel problems, eventually settling for a 5th place finish. A couple of GPs later, Vermeulen finally found his way into the podium after finishing second in his home race. By the end of the year, he was 11th in the championship standings with 98 points in his first full season of competition.
2007
Vermeulen and the rest of team Suzuki was due for a better finish in 2007, armed with over a year of experience and a new and more competitive Suzuki 800cc machine on their disposal. However, teammate Hopkins would steal the spotlight during the early stages of the season until the Australian brought his "A-game" on the wet French Grand Prix, displaying his wet weather skills to snag his first ever MotoGP win (from 12th place on the grid), and the first for team Suzuki since Sete Gibernau's 2001 victory on a 500cc two-stroke. He followed the win with remarkable performances in Donington Park and in Assen, both in wet conditions, with a third place finish and a pole, respectively. Surprisingly, Vermeulen seemed to have problems duplicating those feats under dry weather conditions, until he finally came through with a second place finish behind compatriot Casey Stoner at the US GP. He would collect his 4th and last podium at the San Marino GP and finish the season on 6th place with 179 points, still behind Hopkins and Marco Melandri.
2008
For the 2008 season, Vermeulen was joined by new teammate and former Ducati racer Loris Capirossi, replacing Hopkins who moved over to Kawasaki. Before the season began, it was announced that Vermeulen would now be sporting the #7 in front of his machine, the same number double World Champion Barry Sheene used during his stint with Suzuki.
"I am really pleased to have secured the number seven on my bike for 2008. Barry was a huge influence on my career and I always had it in my mind to one day race a Suzuki with the number that he made famous on it – I just hope that I now have the same success that he enjoyed!" Vermeulen said.
In his season debut in Qatar, Vermeulen ended up in 17th but improved to 10th in the Spanish MotoGP.
Career Stats
| Season | Class | Motorcycle | Race | Win | Podium | Pole | FLap | Pts | Plcd | WCh |
| 2005 | MotoGP | Honda RC211V | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 21st | - |
| 2006 | MotoGP | Suzuki GSV-R | 17 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 98 | 11th | - |
| 2007 | MotoGP | Suzuki GSV-R800 | 18 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 179 | 6th | - |
| Total | 37 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 287 | 0 |
| Class | Season | 1st GP | 1st Pod | 1st Win | Race | Win | Podiums | Pole | FLap | Pts | WCh |
| MotoGP | 2005-2007 | 2005 Australia | 2006 Australia | 2007 France | 37 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 287 | 0 |
| Total | 2005-2007 | 37 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 287 | 0 |
| Yr | Class | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Final Pos | Pts |
| 2005 | MotoGP | Honda | SPA | POR | CHN | FRA | ITA | CAT | NED | GBR | GER | CZE | JPN | MAL | QAT | AUS 11 | TUR 11 | VAL | 21st | 10 | ||
| 2006 | MotoGP | Honda | SPA 12 | QAT Ret | TUR 7 | CHN Ret | FRA 10 | ITA 14 | CAT 6 | NED 10 | GBR 16 | GER 7 | USA 5 | CZE 12 | MAL 11 | AUS 2 | JPN 11 | POR 9 | VAL Ret | 11th | 98 | |
| 2007 | MotoGP | Ducati | QAT 7 | SPA 9 | TUR 11 | CHN 7 | FRA 1 | ITA 8 | CAT 7 | GBR 3 | NED 16 | GER 11 | USA 2 | CZE 5 | SMR 2 | POR 13 | JPN 11 | AUS 8 | MAL 7 | VAL 6 | 6th | 179 |
| 2008 | MotoGP | Suzuki | QAT 17 | SPA 10 | POR - | CHN - | FRA - | ITA - | CAT - | GBR - | NED - | GER - | USA - | CZE - | SMR - | IND - | JPN - | AUS - | MAL - | VAL - | 14th | 6 |
Highlights
| Chris Vermeulen and Daryl Beattie talk safety gear. |
Sources
- Chris Vermeulen Crash.net Profile
- Chris Vermeulen gets number 7
- Chris Vermeulen News & Updates @ GPUpdate.com
External Links
Categories: Australian motorcycle racers | MotoGP riders | Superbike World Championship riders | World Supersport riders
