Chris Vermeulen

Chris Vermeulen (born 19 June 1982) is a retired Australian motorcycle racer who last competed in the World Superbike Championship for the works Kawasaki team, perhaps best-known for winning the 2007 French Grand Prix in MotoGP.

Chris Vermeulen
Nationality	Australian
Born	(1982-06-19) 19 June 1982 (age 40) Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Website	chrisvermeulen.com
Motorcycle racing career statistics MotoGP World Championship Active years 2005–2009, 2012 Manufacturers Honda, Suzuki, Suter Championships 0 2012 championship position NC (0 pts) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 73 1 7 3 1 521 Superbike World Championship Active years 2004–2005, 2010–2011 Manufacturers Honda, Kawasaki Championships 0 2011 championship position 20th (14 pts) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 45 10 23 3 7 661 Supersport World Championship Active years 2000–2003 Manufacturers Honda Championships 1 (2003) 2003 championship position 1st (201 pts) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 37 4 10 5 3 334

Vermeulen was born in Brisbane. He first raced in the Superbike class in 2004 and 2005 for the Ten Kate Honda team, finishing as series runner-up in 2005. He also won the World Supersport Championship for Ten Kate in 2003.

From 2006 season he joined the elite MotoGP series, for the Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Team. On 28 August 2009 Suzuki confirmed Vermeulen will leave the team at the end of the 2009 season.^[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

Early career

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

Superbike World Championship

Races by year

(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

By season

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

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

(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	IND 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	IND 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	IND	CZE	RSM	ARA	JPN	MAL	AUS	VAL	NC	0

References

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. Motorcycle-USA Staff. Chris Vermeulen Bio 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 10 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine
5. Madson, Bart. MotoGP A Closer Look at the 800s 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. . HighRevs.net. 29 June 2007. Archived from the original on 6 February 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
9. . Eurosport. 23 July 2007. Archived from the original on 28 August 2007. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
10. . 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 10 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chris Vermeulen.

• Chris Vermeulen at MotoGP.com 
• Chris Vermeulen at WorldSBK.com 
• – MotoGP Rider Bios at Motorcycle-USA