Vermeulen eyeing podium repeat

Although the Australian endured a disappointing race at Laguna Seca, where he finished down in eighth position, he is confident that his bike is competitive enough to return to the top positions at Sachsenring.

Vermeulen finished in third position at the German track last year, and he sees no reason why he can't repeat the result this season.

"The last race was very disappointing as we had such high hopes for Laguna, but we must learn from that and move forward in Germany," said Vermeulen. "I got a third at Sachsenring last year and although that was in the wet I am sure we can try and repeat that this year in whatever weather we have to contend with.

"The bike is still working well and seems to improve every time we go out on it The crew have got a good base package and if that works from the start at Sachsenring - and we can get the tyres to match the bike - then I see no reason why we can't be competitive from the first day."

Team-mate Loris Capirossi is also aiming to bounce back after a series of disappointing results.

"The last couple of races have been a bit tough on us, which has been pretty difficult as we have worked so hard to get everything right," he said. "The crew have certainly been giving all they can and we just didn't get the solutions we were looking for.

"We have still managed to learn a lot of things about how the Suzuki GSV-R behaves in different situations and on different types of Bridgestone tyres, so all that will be very useful to us in Germany. Sachsenring is not a track that needs a lot of power and speed, but it does require careful balance because you are on the side of the tyre so much.

"I got podium at Sachsenring in 2007 and I've also had a couple of other good results there. It is a track that I certainly enjoy racing at and believe that we can do well at - we will just have to see what happens this weekend!"