Improvement required for Suzuki in southern Spain

Having demanded and received improvements to the Suzuki GSV-R 800cc MotoGP prototype from the Japanese factory over the winter Chris Vermeulen and Loris Capirossi are under pressure to start delivering results after two races of the 2009 season.

Vermeulen started his fourth full season in MotoGP with a solid seventh place in Qatar, but struggled due to an electrical gear shift fault in Japan and could only manage tenth place having qualified in fourth.

The Australian was the fifth fastest rider at the MotoGP Official test in Jerez before the start of the championship and believes he can get a good result this weekend at the Gran Premio bwin.com de España.

“I’m really looking forward to this weekend in Jerez, it’s a great circuit and has an iconic feel to it,” enthused Vermeulen. “I’ve certainly watched many of my heroes race around there and we had a very good pre-season test at this track. I am looking forward to getting back on track and making the most of what we discovered there last month, in terms of set-up and tyre performance - especially as the track had just been re-surfaced.”

The 26 year-old continued, “I hope that I can qualify on at least the front two rows and then I’ll be able to challenge at the front right from the start and try to get on the podium.”

His colleague Capirossi recorded the third fastest lap in the BMW M Award session at Jerez in March, but has since registered a DNF in Qatar and a discreet seventh in Japan at one of his favourite venues on the calendar.

Looking ahead to the trip to Andalusia the experienced Italian admitted, “I have been very disappointed with the first two races, because the weather has meant we haven’t been able to get our work done on the bike, so it is good to go to a track where we have done some testing already this year.”

“We are going there with a good base setting and that should make the bike work pretty well straight out of the box. I am aiming for a high position this week, not just for me, but for all my crew and everyone at Suzuki because they really deserve it.”