Vermeulen targets Le Mans resurgence

The Australian won last year's rain-soaked race to give Suzuki their first four-stroke MotoGP victory, and is keen to recover from his retirement in China with a strong result on a circuit that holds good memories for him.

"I'm looking forward to Le Mans, and not just because of the memory of my first MotoGP win," he said. "We need to get back on the bike and try to get the GSV-R as competitive as it can be.

"I was really disappointed after Shanghai. The results we're getting are not what we all deserve for the hard work we're putting in, maybe we just need that bit of luck to go our way. What better place than Le Mans for that to happen?"

Vermeulen's Suzuki teammate Loris Capirossi, who lies fifth in the championship, also called for a strong performance at Le Mans.

"I believe the bike is very capable of running at the front," he said. "We need to start getting the positions that we want and everybody at Suzuki is working hard to make it happen."