MotoGP – Donington Park – Vermeulen climbs to the third step of the podium

Chris Vermeulen's riding is at its best when there are prohibitive conditions like those today at Donington Park, the eighth round of the 2007 world championship. The Australian Suzuki rider is in fact very good in the wet and had already demonstrated it by winning at Le Mans. Today Vermeulen put Valentino Rossi behind him to take the third step of the podium. Vermeulen is keen to thank in particular the mechanics who "rebuilt" the GSV-R in record time after this weekend's crashes. The word is up to him.

“It was very wet at the start and then dried out later, which made the conditions very difficult. But my team and Bridgestone deserve full marks for choosing the best tires for today - they certainly knew what they were doing! I also want to give my mechanics an extra special thank you because for the second day in a row I had a bad accident in the morning and they managed to rebuild the bike in time, so thank you! As the race continued, I felt comfortable at first, but then I had trouble seeing through the visor. A couple of riders passed me and I went off the track, I was struggling to see so much that I could have hit a wall or a spectator or something else without knowing it! When the rain stopped I was able to raise the visor a little and this clarified my vision a little, so I could push hard again. I passed John and Valentino and almost caught Colin when the laps were over. I am very happy to be on the podium and now I want to do it again – preferably in the dry!”