Australian Chris Vermeulen was looking down the barrel of a top five finish in the 10th round of the World Supersport Championship at Oschersleben, Germany before his Honda CBR600 expired on the last lap.

It was a heart breaking result for the 20 year old, who had battled fading tyres and world champion Andrew Pitt for the majority of the 28 lap race. Vermeulen was solid in 5th spot when his Van Zon Honda blew an engine.

“Gee that makes me mad. At the time, I was the first Honda and the first on Pirelli tyres and that sort of thing happens. It’s such a hard race and to ride 27 laps and to not come away with anything is very disappointing.” Chris said.

After starting from the 2nd row of the grid, Vermeulen raced as high as third and seemed set to improve on his world ranking. Instead the Queenslander stays 7th in the World Championship with 2 rounds remaining.

“The first 3 laps seemed so easy and I though here we go, but the front end wasn’t quiet right. I just couldn’t go with them. It wasn’t as if they were going quicker I just couldn’t match their lap times.”

“I would have moved up in the championship, with Kellner falling off. There’s 2 races to go and I know we’ll be quick next week.” The Aussie said.

It was only the 2nd DNF for the year for Chris who was forced to park his Honda in front of the big German crowd.

Round 11 of the world championship will be held at Assen next weekend.