Vermeulen targets podium from start of '08

The Japanese team are aiming to take a step forward this year after a promising 2007 season, when Suzuki finished in fourth place in the makers' championship with one victory and eight podium finishes.

Vermeulen was left encouraged by the performance of his bike's engine in the Sepang test last week, and the Australian reckons it's now time to make the chassis as competitive to start the season in strong form.

"We had an interesting test here last year and now it will be really important to see how we have progressed with the bike when there are other riders here to compare ourselves with," said Vermeulen, whose team will join the test at Phillip Island, where they worked in private at the end of last year.

"The bike performed well at Sepang and the new engine worked great, Suzuki has made a big step this year with the motor and now we need to get the rest of the package right so we can be as competitive as possible come the first race at Qatar.

"That is what we need to aim for and take each race as it comes, we need to battle for podiums from the start of the year and Qatar is our first target."

Teammate Loris Capirossi reckons the Phillip Island test will be important to see how much progress Suzuki have made.

"For me this will be a very important test as I know that Suzuki has had some problems at Phillip Island in the past," said Capirossi. "We tested here in November and both Chris and I were able to highlight some of the problems and the factory has acted on them, so we hope to make steps forward during this test.

"We tried so many new parts at Sepang, produced from the information we supplied last year, and that shows that Suzuki is very positive and focussed for the forthcoming season.

"I now have to go to Phillip Island and make sure that I continue with good start I've made with Suzuki, for sure we have a long way to go, but I want to be ready and fully prepared to challenge when the season starts."