Vermeulen struggling with back injury
Chris Vermeulen could only finish 16th in today's MotoGP free practice session at Estoril while suffering from a back injury
The Australian picked up the injury while at home during the break between the Italian and Portuguese races and said he found it difficult to ride his Suzuki early on today.
"It was a bit difficult in the beginning because I hurt my back in Australia about a week ago and it didn't make things very comfortable on the bike," said Vermeulen. "It was tough to move around at first, but after a couple of changes to the settings things became a lot easier."
Vermeulen is hopeful that both he and team-mate Loris Capirossi can move forward tomorrow after the Italian could only manage 12th today on the other works Suzuki.
"I am sure if I can get a bit fitter for tomorrow, we will be able to qualify well, because the bike feels as if it is in really good shape," he added.
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments