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At six years of age I started to race BMX and although I loved it, I pretty soon figured out that it would be heaps more fun with a motor instead of pedal power, a concept that took my mum about 5 years to agree with. The pinnacle of my BMX career was to finish second in the Queensland BMX Championship in 1992. Although I had trials bikes all through this period, my real conversion from BMX to motor bike racing really happened when with mum and dad took me to a Christmas party at the local Kawasaki dealership in Nambour and I spent the whole time drooling and climbing all over the then new KX 60. I had to have it and my powers of persuasion worked overtime until I was able to convince mum and dad to allow me to sell my trials bike and put the money toward my first motocross bike, a brand new KX60.
My first ever motor bike racing experience was at a local country track at Kilcoy, where I competed in motocross and dirt track on the same day. I can’t remember how I went, but I do remember loving every minute of it. After that day, it was hard to get me off the bike and I practiced around the paddocks at home from dawn till dark. I continued racing both motocross and dirt track, but enjoyed dirt track racing more, because I loved the speed. During those dirt track years, I won state titles and was second to Broc Parkes in 4 Australian titles. Road racing was always something that intrigued me. My whole family would watch the grand prix and world superbike races, cheering on our heroes, Gardner and Doohan. I would sit there and quietly dream and scheme about how I would do that myself one day. The need for speed was taking over. Mum and dad bought me an old 125 grand prix bike, but I was too young to race and could only practice. I was fifteen and busting to become sixteen so I could start racing, when the first junior road racing class for fourteen to sixteen year olds was introduced. I jumped straight into it and once again, mum and dad sprung for a bike, a Moriwaki 80cc. I raced it twice in the juniors before I turned 16 and won both times. In 1998, my first year of senior racing I found myself piloting a 600 super sport bike and a 250 grand prix bike at the same meetings. Very intense and very busy, but a fast learning curve. Because I had ridden well in the first few races, engine tuner Kev Marshall convinced Yamaha to supply me with an R1 to compete in the Australian Super Bike Championship for the 1999 season. This was a massive step up in power and the calibre of competition. I knew I would have to be on my game if I was to impress.
In that same year, I also got the opportunity to ride in the Asian 250cc Championship for Suzuki Malaysia under the guidance of Barry Leong. This was really cool at the time; because I had moderate success and was able to use the prize money I won in Asia to help mum and dad meet the costs of my Australian Super Bike campaign.
Although 1999 was incredibly exciting and busy with lots of different racing, it was a watershed year for me career wise, because it was that year I met Barry Sheene. Barry and I seemed to click straight away and he immediately stepped in to help me get organised with some sponsors and give me the benefit of his vast experience. It was at his suggestion, that I packed up and headed off to England to try my luck in the 2000 British Super Sport and Super Stock Championships.
Barry was an amazing person. He was irreverent and cheeky, but he knew bike racing back to front and inside out and was in my opinion, the first of the modern breed of bike racer. Barry knew there was a lot more to racing than what happened on the track and his invaluable advice about what to expect and how to handle it, has stood me in good stead. He was a true friend until the end and apart from mum and dad, is the person who has helped me most in my racing career. I miss him, as many do. England was an eye opener and the racing very tough. It was a big learning curve and a step up in intensity. I was happy to learn as much as I did that year, and finish 4th in Super Stock and 5th in Super Sport. Late in 2000, the Castrol Honda World Super Sport team needed a rider for the last 3 races and I got the nod. I did well enough in all 3 rides to secure the job as team rider for the 2001 season. Although it started out well, 2001 is a year I would rather forget. The bike wasn’t on the pace and we had tyre problems all season. I finished 17th and learnt the humility that comes with not winning. In hindsight, 2001 hardened me up and I knew I had to really focus and get everything right if I was to make my new career successful. I had always trained hard to be fit enough to race at the top level, but my training efforts intensified in my quest for better performance.
2002 was a much better year. I was asked to ride for the Van Zon Honda World Super Sport team out of Belgium, which was a satellite Ten Kate team. I had a fairly good year and finished 7th in the World Super Sport Championship.
The Ten Kate boys signed me for their official team in 2003 and what a year it was. I was fit, on a great bike with a great team and with it all coming together so well, I really honed my racing skills. I had dreamed of one day of being world champion and 2003 was the year my dreams were realised. When handed the trophy, I couldn’t help think what an amazing journey I had been on since those days belting around paddocks and dirt tracks on my Pee Wee 50.
In 2004 Ten Kate took a one bike team into World Super Bike and I was the pilot. I had the whole team’s resources behind me and we made big advances in developing the new bike. We won quite a few races and I finished 4th in the world championship.
In 2005, I stayed with Ten Kate Honda in World Superbike, but this time I had a team mate, fellow aussie Karl Muggeridge. I had a good year, finishing a narrow 2nd in the world championship to Troy Corser. I also got a ride in the Suzuka 8 hour endurance race on the factory Honda. What a bike! I wanted more of this factory support and my thoughts were starting to turn to MotoGP.
My chance came in late 2005 when Troy Bayliss busted himself up riding his motocross bike and I got offered the fill in ride on his Camel Honda alongside his team mate Alex Barros. I competed in the grand prix at Phillip Island and Istanbul and finished 11th in both races. I was happy with those results, as I had never even sat on a MotoGP bike before that Phillip Island race and those 990’s were real beasts.
Beasts they might have been, but the power to deliver the speed I had always craved was in my right hand and the exhilaration of winding on the throttle on a MotoGP bike took my breath away. I knew I had arrived where I wanted to be. I secured a full time GP ride for the 2006 season with the Rizla Suzuki MotoGP team on the GSVR990. I knew it would be tough as Suzuki hadn’t won for some time, but I was excited at the prospect of being part of the development of their GP bike. My first season had mixed results. I claimed two pole positions and my best effort was second at my home grand prix at Phillip Island. I finished the season in 11th place, but was happy with what I had learnt in my rookie year.
2007 saw the introduction of the 800cc GP bikes and they required a different riding style to the big 990’s. Traction control was improving and the name of the game was maintaining corner speed, rather than harnessing brute power. I adapted well and won my first MotoGP race at Le Mans in France in May 2007. It was Suzuki’s first victory in the four stroke category and standing on top of the podium filled me with pride.
That victory was in the rain and because of it and other good performances in the wet, the commentators labelled me the “Rain Man” and said that “I loved riding in the rain”. Let me clear this up once and for all. I HATE RIDING IN THE RAIN. Maybe I handle it better than the other guys because my dirt track background taught me how to handle the bike moving and sliding under me, but I don’t really like it. Give me a dry track any day! I finished the 2007 season in 6th place, with three other podium finishes apart from the victory in France and was hopeful of further improvement in 2008.
Despite my resolve to push harder in 2008, it turned out to be almost as tough as my nightmare year in 2001. Despite Suzuki’s and my teams best efforts, my bike lacked power in the straights and the ability to maintain speed in long fast corners. Racing bikes at the top level is all about tenths of a second and we worked very hard to rectify these problems, but just couldn’t find that extra 1% needed to be competitive. Despite this, I had two podium finishes for the year, 3rd places at Sachsenring and Laguna Seca and finished the year in 8th position overall.
2009 was a very similar year for us as 2008, we really struggled to have the speed to compete at the front of the field. There were a few rule changes in 2009, they didn’t help us, and with motorcycle sales dropping worldwide Suzuki didn’t spend as much on racing development as other manufactures. As a result we found ourselves competing with the privateer teams and not the other factories. Despite this, we challenged inside the top ten for most of the year and I was the only rider in the field to score points in every GP of 2009. However, my contract with Suzuki was in its final year and I was looking for a ride on a more competitive GP bike. This proved very difficult, as the GFC was taking its toll on team budgets and sponsorship opportunities and riders with big sponsorship backing were the ones the teams wanted. Sadly, sponsorship for Australian riders has always been harder than for European riders and I was unable to secure a GP ride on a competitive bike.
I had been offered a ride for 2010 in WSBK by Kawasaki and although I would have liked to stay in MotoGP, I could see no point in signing again with Suzuki, and since I had previously enjoyed racing in WSBK, I explored that offer. I found that Kawasaki was one of the only companies that had a budget to develop a good race bike and had a very interesting project in their all new 2011 ZX-10R. I felt my best opportunities to again race at the front would be with them and opted to return to the WSBK championship. I knew 2010 was going to be tough, but not as disastrous as it turned out. The existing ZX-10R was off the pace, but I could see the potential of the new bike and was excited at the prospect of what was possible in 2011 and 2012.
In my first race at Phillip Island I had a low speed off at Honda Hairpin and decided I would ride the wheels off the thing in race 2. I started well and was pushing as hard as I could, but disaster struck as I was heading up toward Lukey Heights when the bike selected “false neutral” as I down shifted to negotiate a left corner in the track in that area. I came off at high speed and the rest is history. After sliding a long way in the pebbles, I hit the tyre wall hard and the bike followed me in, hitting me on the right knee. The damage to my knee was extensive and I had an arthroscopy to try and fix it and keep racing. This was not successful and after a second crash and further damage to the knee in Brno in July, with the support of Kawasaki, I finally came to the conclusion that I had to get it sorted, or suffer permanent damage that would not only end my racing career, but would severely impact on my mobility for the rest of my life.
In August, I underwent a total knee reconstruction that included ligament and meniscus replacement in Barcelona with the orthopaedic surgeons who look after the soccer players from FC Barcelona and since then have been through a controlled recuperation period. In recent weeks I have been able to walk without crutches and my physio and exercise regime is going to plan. Movement and flexibility is slowly returning and I am hopeful of testing the 2011 ZX-10R in mid January in Malaysia, but if the knee isn’t ready by then, I will wait until Portugal in late January.
This has been my first serious injury and the first time I have been unable to race bikes for many years. It has given me time to reflect on how lucky I have been in the past and has made me more determined than ever to do well when I get back on the bike. I have been well supported by excellent doctors, physios, Kawasaki, family and friends and most of all my partner and now fiancé Toni Pinion. I will keep you all informed on my recovery and return to racing through the video blogs Toni shoots and produces on this web site.
Watch out for the green machine in 2011, if it is as good as early testing has indicated, it will develop into a competitive bike. Chris
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Chris Vermeulen on Facebook
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