Q and A Chris Vermeulen Day 1-Australian Grand Prix

Q) You seem very upbeat after this morning’s dry session, despite only posting the 14^th quickest time?

A) I came in actually on my fastest lap. We weren’t out there to do the quick lap time. Compared to this time last year we are a lot further ahead of where we were in the dry and also the wet. Last year we had a wet session and we struggled a lot with rear grip. So I am very happy with the way today has gone.

Q) In the wet this afternoon you again were one of the standouts. Are you praying for rain?

A) I’d prefer it dry. It’s so easy to make a little mistake and you’re out of the race in the wet. I’d love it to be dry and fight at the front. It seems like we are quiet close to 2^nd place time wise in the dry and Casey has got a big gap at the moment. But we don’t know how many laps he can do that for. I think we can fight at the front.

Q) Why are you so quick in the rain?

A) “I think it’s a leveller for the equipment. It’s no secret Suzuki is not at the forefront right now, but when the wet weather comes out we can prove some areas of the motorbike are very strong.

Q) You’ve had plenty to do with the native animals this week. Yesterday penguins, today a magpie took aim at you. What happened?

A) I wasn’t sure if anyone saw it, but I came into the pit lane and there was a magpie flying a long beside me and it just turned straight towards me and I thought it was going to hit me in the head. I’ve hit a seagull here before and it’s not’s pretty let me tell you. Glad it gave someone a laugh any way.

Q) Is it just an issue of getting tyres right now or is there more set up left?

A) There’s definitely more set up stuff with the bike. Engine mapping, the electronics part of the engine and we’re working on the suspension. From the data we’ve got we know where to go. I also heard from some other Bridgestone riders they used a different tyre that we’ve got in our allocation and it made a big step so we’ve got that to go with as well.”

Q) Will the tyre war play a part this weekend?

A) Yeah it will. Especially in the wet, it looks like the Michelins seem to have an advantage over Bridgestone. Maybe in the dry Casey was very quick, but we don’t know his durability and we don’t know Michelins either.