Vermeulen using powers of persuasion for Assen engine opportunity

Chris Vermeulen had an initial outing with the new Suzuki engine last Sunday in Barcelona, and was left convinced that it was the way forward for the GSV-R despite early reliability issues.

Speaking at the post-race test on Monday –at which he was unable to reuse the motor- the Australian said that he would be lobbying for another go with the engine for the Alice TT Assen next weekend.

“I couldn’t use the new engine because I blew it up in the race. She expired as I crossed the line, and to be honest I struggled during the race because the engine had a problem and was losing power all race,” he revealed.

“It’s difficult for the factories to develop new parts and to bring them out, but we’ve had a good day of testing a lot of small things and we’ve definitely taken a step forward. I’ve just got to convince the engineers to see if we’ve got enough parts to run the new engine in Assen.”

Vermeulen’s teammate Loris Capirossi is also hopeful of using the engine for the Dutch showdown, although he has reiterated a desire for more power to be eked out to bring the bike up to speed.