Chris Vermeulen’s MotoGP debut last weekend at Phillip Island was impressive. A long dog fight with Suzuki factory rider John Hopkins ended with Hopkins passing Vermeulen on the final lap. Vermeulen finished in 11th place . . . beating several MotoGP regulars his first weekend on a MotoGP machine.
Round two for Vermeulen is this weekend as MotoGP visits Turkey for the first time. Vermeulen rode a completely unfamiliar bike on a very familiar (to him) track last weekend. This weekend he rides a slightly more familiar machine on a track he has never seen before. Of course, this is a new race venue for all of the riders.
Watch Vermeulen this weekend to see if he cracks the top ten. Given the caliber of talent in MotoGP, this would signal Vermeulen is more than ready to race full-time in MotoGP next year.
