Q & A with Chris Vermeulen

Chris Vermeulen: Yes, definitely! I was so excited to be up there, not just for me but for Suzuki - it had been such a long time for them.

Q. Twice this season you have been the '2' in an Aussie 1-2 finish behind Casey Stoner, in the USA and at the San Marino Grand Prix. At that Misano race you said you felt you could catch him, but added that perhaps you were kidding yourself. Can you catch the new World Champion in the next couple of years?

CV: Yes, I really think we can - and hopefully Phillip Island is the first place where we can prove it.

Q. When you re-signed for Suzuki, you described the development of the GSV-R since you started with the team as 'incredible'. Taking the start as Everest base camp, how high up the mountain are you now - and what will it take to get to the top?

CV: We're three-quarters of the way up the mountain, I think - but getting to the top is the hardest bit. For us it's a question of exiting the corners: there are a few different ways of achieving that. We've got the horsepower with the GSV-R but getting it all down to the ground is what we're working on.

Q. Yet it seems, from the outside, as if you've taken a backward step in the last couple of races. Anything to worry about?

CV: We had a problem with the bike in Portugal, a really big vibration we just couldn't get rid of. But we didn't have that in Japan. At Motegi, on the start line, it was a really strange thing: the ECU just failed before the start. It was strange, but it's something Suzuki won't allow to happen again.

Q. We're near the end of the first 800cc season. Has it helped Suzuki and Chris Vermeulen? Has it been good for the sport?

CV: Suzuki prepared for the change very early - the last 990cc bike I rode was made to go into the 800 era, it was just a matter of dropping an engine in, so in that sense it didn't help. Me? Not really: I really enjoyed the 990 bikes and their brute horsepower.

And the sport? I personally think it's been a step backwards. I know a lot of people don't agree with me, but in my view there were different ways to ride a 990 bike, and when, say, the tyre had gone off you could change your style of riding to get round that. With the 800 there's only one way to ride and that's with a lot of corner speed.

Q. The MotoGP World Championship is a prototype series where it's all about the competitive edge - yet we are in the midst of a debate about switching to a control tyre. What's your view?

CV: Should we switch to a control tyre? No, for the sake of the sport, we shouldn't. Michelin, Bridgestone and Dunlop are competing, trying to develop tyres as best they can to pass on to road users. With a control tyre that development is lost.

Q. In 2008 you lose 'Hopper' - John Hopkins - but gain Loris Capirossi as a team-mate. Will that make any difference, and how do you view the multiple rider switches for next season?

CV: I get on really well with John, he's been a great team-mate for two years and together we've developed the Suzuki a lot. But having said that, Loris coming on board is a huge positive both for me and the team. He's been involved in the development of that Ducati for years and he will bring information with him to the team.

And for me, he's got so much experience that I can't think of anyone better to learn from. I was expecting wholesale changes because a lot of people were on two-year deals and once a couple moved that freed everything up.

Q. We can't let you go without asking about the Island. What difference will there be on an 800cc machine - and can you climb one step higher than last year?

CV: That's the first aim, to go one step higher! We tested at Phillip Island in January with a number of other teams and on the 800 I lapped consistently quicker than on the 990. It doesn't have as much speed down the straight but the pure lap times were faster. That's down to the corner speed, especially on the last part of the lap. I'm really looking forward to going back.