Vermeulen positive ahead of Le Mans

The Australian has been out-paced by his team-mate Loris Capirossi so far this year and has also suffered some reliability problems that caused him to forsake a strong run last time out in China.

"It has been [tough this season], I have had two non-points-scoring finishes out of the last four, but I am quite positive at the moment," he said. "We made some good steps with the bike and also we are working quite well with Bridgestone and we have found some good direction there.

"I am looking forward to this weekend and the next few races coming up. They are quite close together, there are some circuits that suit Bridgestone and also suit the Suzuki and hopefully we can stand back on the podium soon.

"The last one in China, we found something with the bike and it was a lot more positive over the weekend. We felt a lot quicker but in the race we had an issue with some parts and the bike didn't finish. It was a real shame and I was quite disappointed but that happens and we have to look forward to the next one."

Sunday's race will mark the first anniversary of Vermeulen's maiden victory in MotoGP, when he scored an accomplished win in tricky wet conditions at Le Mans.

But despite having performed so well in wet races in the past, Vermeulen says he would prefer it if the track stayed dry this weekend.

"I would really like it to be dry and for us to be competitive," he said. "I don't think anyone likes riding in the rain. It's easy to make a mistake and fall down and no-one likes that.

"Obviously my first MotoGP win came here and Suzuki's first win with the four-stroke so it was a special day for all of us, the conditions weren't great as everyone remembers and it was difficult to ride in. We did the best we could and we got home in front. We would love to repeat it again."