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Chris Vermeulen

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Chris Vermeulen
Vermuelen in 2007
NationalityAustralian
Born (1982-06-19) 19 June 1982 (age 42)
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Websitechrisvermeulen.com
Motorcycle racing career statistics
MotoGP World Championship
Active years20052009, 2012
ManufacturersHonda, Suzuki, Suter
Championships0
2012 championship positionNC (0 pts)
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
73 1 7 3 1 521
Superbike World Championship
Active years20042005, 20102011
ManufacturersHonda, Kawasaki
Championships0
2011 championship position20th (14 pts)
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
66 10 23 3 7 661
Supersport World Championship
Active years20002003
ManufacturersHonda
Championships1 (2003)
2003 championship position1st (201 pts)
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
37 4 10 5 3 334

Christopher Vermeulen (born 19 June 1982) is a retired Australian motorcycle racer. He competed in the Supersport World Championship and the Superbike World Championship before racing in the premier MotoGP class between 2005 and 2009, most prominently as a member of the Suzuki MotoGP team, winning the 2007 French Grand Prix.

Vermeulen won the World Supersport Championship for the Ten Kate Honda team in 2003. He then raced in the Superbike class in 2004 and 2005 for the Ten Kate Honda team, finishing as series runner-up in 2005. From 2006 he joined the elite MotoGP series, for the Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Team.[1] During his career, Vermeulen was regarded as a wet-weather expert[2] and is affectionately nicknamed 'Vermin' on account of his last name.

Career

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Early career

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Vermeulen was born in Brisbane, Australia on June 19, 1982. In 1999 he raced in the Australian Superbike Championship, despite only having participated in a handful of professional races beforehand. He took his Yamaha to 8th in the championship, with a best result of 4th, and the privateer championship for non-factory riders. His mentor Barry Sheene then arranged rides for him in Britain in their Supersport and Superstock classes, and success in these gave him his World Supersport break with Castrol Honda.

Initial success in a few late-2000 races did not translate into a successful 2001, as he only managed a single top 5 finish. However, in 2002 he linked up with Dutch team owner Gerrit Ten Kate, taking his first poles and podiums en route to 7th in the championship in the 2002 season. He became the team's lead rider for 2003, and became series champion comfortably with four victories, becoming the youngest ever winner.[3]

Superbike World Championship

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When Ten Kate arranged a deal to run a Honda Fireblade in World Superbikes for 2004, Chris was the natural choice to ride it. The team did their own development on the bike (in its first test they still used a road-bike clutch), but he still won four races and briefly led the championship before finishing 4th, as the only non-Ducati in the top 8.

For 2005 the championship had many Yamaha and Suzuki bikes, as well as 4 more Hondas including a second Ten Kate entry for Karl Muggeridge. Chris continued to record victories, and took his first pole at Assen in the Netherlands, the country in which his grandfather was born. Victory in the first race at Imola took him to within 55 points of veteran compatriot Troy Corser's lead, but the cancellation of the second race due to heavy rain meant that only 50 points were still available from the remaining round's 2 races. He still comfortably finished as series runner-up.[4]

MotoGP World Championship

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He rode factory bikes for Honda in the Suzuka 8 Hours race and, because of sponsorship and manufacturer relationships (Japan Tobacco and Honda, as the Ten Kate Honda team was sponsored by Winston a Japan Tobacco brand), also rode a Camel Pons Honda GP bike at the tail end of the 2005 season.

His progress towards a factory Honda ride seemed assured but Honda were only offering him another year in World Superbike, and Japan Tobacco had switched to Yamaha in MotoGP, so he made the bold decision to quit HRC and go with team Suzuki who signed him in 2006 alongside fellow youngster John Hopkins.

2006

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Vermeulen on Suzuki GSV-R at the 2006 Australian Grand Prix

He scored his first MotoGP pole in Turkey after a stunning ride in the wet, coincidentally one round after fellow Australian rookie Casey Stoner scored his maiden pole. After the Sachsenring race he was 14th in the championship on 46 points, 4 places and eighteen points behind Hopkins. At the following round at Laguna Seca, Vermeulen took pole position, one of only two non-Americans in the first two rows of the grid. Vermeulen was one of the few riders to have experience of the circuit, due to it being a former circuit of World Superbikes, and was holding its first Grand Prix race since 1993. He had a technical problem while running third. In his home race at Philip Island he was the fastest man once the field had changed to wet tyres, and charged through the field to finish 2nd.[3]

2007

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The 2007 season saw the introduction of the 800cc GP bikes.[5] Vermeulen made the transition well, achieving a modestly competitive start to his 2007 campaign, with two 7th places, a 9th and an 11th place in the first 4 GPs of the season,[3] consistently racking up points which saw him place inside the top 10 riders for the season. His season came alive on 20 May 2007 at the Bugatti Circuit Le Mans, where, in a wet race, Vermuelen rode from 12th on the grid to take his maiden victory in MotoGP.[6] He followed the victory up with an impressive 3rd place at the British GP, again from 12th on the grid in the wet behind winner and fellow countryman Casey Stoner,[7] and pole position in the wet at Assen.[8] He shone in the dry by starting third and finishing second at the US GP (Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca), again behind Stoner. At this meeting he was confirmed as a Suzuki rider for 2008.[9]

2008

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Suzuki struggled to compete in the 2008 MotoGP Championship, with neither Vermeulen or teammate Loris Capirossi able to secure a race victory. Vermeulen did however secure back-to-back podiums in the German Grand Prix and US Grand Prix before finishing the season in eighth place in the rider's standings.

2009

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Although Vermeulen finished every race in 2009, he took just one top-five finish and was generally outpaced by Capirossi. After another difficult season, Vermeulen was told by Suzuki that he would not be offered a new contract for 2010. Álvaro Bautista took his place in the team.

Return to Superbike

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After failing to secure a contract to remain in MotoGP for the 2010 Championship, Vermeulen sought a return to the Superbike World Championship.

On 6 October 2009 it was confirmed that he had signed a contract with the Kawasaki Superbike Team for the 2010 Superbike World Championship season, replacing Makoto Tamada.[10] Vermeulen injured his knee in a crash at the season-opening round at Phillip Island, forcing him to miss the next two races. He continued to struggle throughout the season, and reinjured the knee in a first-lap pile-up at Brno. Following medical advice, he then chose to sit out the remainder of the season in order to regain full fitness.[11]

Personal life

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In 2011, Vermeulen married his longtime girlfriend, the English model turned photographer Toni Pinion. All his racing numbers have the digit "7" as a tribute to his mentor Barry Sheene. He has a penchant for collecting old American Hot Rod cars and has a few in his collection.

Career statistics

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Superbike World Championship

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Races by year

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Pos Pts Ref
R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2
2004 Honda SPA
12
SPA
5
AUS
2
AUS
2
SMR
5
SMR
12
ITA
4
ITA
DSQ
GER
15
GER
8
GBR
2
GBR
1
USA
1
USA
1
EUR
4
EUR
3
NED
5
NED
1
ITA
2
ITA
6
FRA
Ret
FRA
Ret
4th 282 [12]
2005 Honda QAT
8
QAT
4
AUS
3
AUS
4
SPA
2
SPA
2
ITA
Ret
ITA
1
EUR
4
EUR
4
SMR
2
SMR
2
CZE
8
CZE
3
GBR
4
GBR
3
NED
1
NED
1
GER
1
GER
2
ITA
1
ITA
C
FRA
1
FRA
Ret
2nd 379
2010 Kawasaki AUS
Ret
AUS
Ret
POR
DNS
POR
DNS
SPA SPA NED
17
NED
14
ITA
18
ITA
13
RSA
18
RSA
16
USA
15
USA
13
SMR
16
SMR
15
CZE
Ret
CZE
Ret
GBR GBR GER GER ITA ITA FRA FRA 20th 10
2011 Kawasaki AUS AUS GBR
DNS
GBR
DNS
NED
Ret
NED
DNS
ITA
DNS
ITA
DNS
USA USA SMR
14
SMR
10
SPA
12
SPA
14
CZE
18
CZE
DNS
GBR GBR GER GER ITA ITA FRA FRA POR POR 20th 14

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

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By season

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Season Class Motorcycle Team Number Race Win Podium Pole FLap Pts Plcd WCh
2005 MotoGP Honda RC211V Camel Honda 17 2 0 0 0 0 10 21st
2006 MotoGP Suzuki GSV-R Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 71 17 0 1 2 0 98 11th
2007 MotoGP Suzuki GSV-R Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 71 18 1 4 1 1 179 6th
2008 MotoGP Suzuki GSV-R Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 7 18 0 2 0 0 128 8th
2009 MotoGP Suzuki GSV-R Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 7 17 0 0 0 0 106 12th
2012 MotoGP Suter MMX1 Forward Racing 7 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC
Total 73 1 7 3 1 521 0

By class

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Class Seasons 1st GP 1st Pod 1st Win Race Win Podiums Pole FLap Pts WChmp
MotoGP 2005–2009, 2012 2005 Australia 2006 Australia 2007 France 73 1 7 3 1 521 0
Total 2005–2009, 2012 73 1 7 3 1 521 0

Races by year

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Class Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Pos Pts
2005 MotoGP Honda SPA POR CHN FRA ITA CAT NED USA GBR GER CZE JPN MAL QAT AUS
11
TUR
11
VAL 21st 10
2006 MotoGP Suzuki 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 Suzuki 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
8
CHN
Ret
FRA
5
ITA
10
CAT
7
GBR
8
NED
7
GER
3
USA
3
CZE
6
SMR
5
INP
9
JPN
Ret
AUS
15
MAL
9
VAL
13
8th 128
2009 MotoGP Suzuki QAT
7
JPN
10
SPA
10
FRA
6
ITA
10
CAT
11
NED
5
USA
8
GER
13
GBR
13
CZE
11
INP
11
SMR
9
POR
10
AUS
11
MAL
6
VAL
15
12th 106
2012 MotoGP Suter QAT SPA POR FRA
17
CAT GBR NED GER ITA USA INP CZE RSM ARA JPN MAL AUS VAL NC 0

References

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  1. ^ Strang, Simon (27 August 2009). "Suzuki confirms Vermeulen departure". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 22 February 2010.
  2. ^ Hull, Rob (24 June 2007). "British GP: Post race reaction: Chris Vermeulen". Motorcycle News. Bauer Media Group. Retrieved 22 February 2010.
  3. ^ a b c Motorcycle-USA Staff. Chris Vermeulen Bio Archived 17 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine. Motorcycle-USA.com. Retrieved on 2009-06-18.
  4. ^ Chris Vermeulen career World Superbike statistics at worldsbk.com Archived 10 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ Madson, Bart. MotoGP A Closer Look at the 800s Archived 25 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Motorcycle-USA.com. Retrieved on 2009-06-18.
  6. ^ "Chris Vermeulen the MotoGP rainmaster in France". f1network.net. 21 May 2007. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  7. ^ "British GP: Post race reaction: Chris Vermeulen". Motor Cycle News. Bauer Media Group. 24 June 2007. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  8. ^ "Chris Vermeulen gets wet Dutch pole". HighRevs.net. 29 June 2007. Archived from the original on 6 February 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  9. ^ "American GP – Vermeulen extends Suzuki deal". Eurosport. 23 July 2007. Archived from the original on 28 August 2007. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  10. ^ "Vermeulen WSB Kawasaki switch confirmed". Insidebikes. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 6 October 2009.
  11. ^ "Vermeulen to skip remainder of 2010 season". crash.net. Crash Media Group. 13 July 2010. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  12. ^ Vermeulen's profile – WorldSBK.com Archived 10 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine
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