Superpole - Winston Ten Kate Honda rider Chris Vermeulen will start from the front row of the grid in tomorrow’s two races in the third round of the World Superbike Championship at Valencia, Spain. Chris will start from second position after some excellent riding around the 4.005km Ricardo Tormo Circuit clocking a Superpole time of 1:36.125s. The team tested various settings on the Honda CBR1000RR throughout the qualifying session and Chris will be hoping to take full advantage of his best qualifying position of the season by securing podium finishes in tomorrow’s races.

Chris said on the session, “We’ve done a lot of work on the front this weekend and, as I’ve said, it’s not ideal to be testing things during a meeting but that’s just how it is. I spent most of today’s practice sessions using the same tyres and just going through a load of different settings on the bike. I’m quite comfortable at race pace here, although the temperature tomorrow will have a lot to do with what that pace is. The track has become slippery in the afternoons so we’ll have to see what the weather is like tomorrow. I tried to make my Superpole lap as smooth as possible with a new front tyre. I guess I could’ve been a little bit quicker here and there but it was my fastest lap of the weekend. We’ve got some more work to do still, but I’m comfortable with the bike now and looking forward to tomorrow.”

Race 1 - Winston Ten Kate Honda rider Chris Vermeulen was able to capitalise on his favourable grid position by finishing in an impressive second place in the first race of the World Superbike Championship in Valencia, Spain. Chris slotted into second quickly from the start and held his position throughout the 23-lap race with fellow rider Norick Abe pushing him all the way before unfortunately crashing out with two laps to go. In hot conditions Chris battled throughout for grip on his Honda CBR1000RR, however some excellent and determined riding secured Chris second place and his second podium of the season behind fellow Australian Troy Corser.

Chris said after the race, “That was really hard work. The conditions were very slippery compared to last year’s race, which was held earlier in the year. I think the higher temperatures here mean that the tyres have to work much harder, so grip is a problem for everyone. I knew Abe was behind me because I could hear his bike and my pit board was reading plus zero all the way through. Suddenly it went to plus six, which is unfortunate for him; but my last lap was about three seconds slower as I just wanted to bring the bike home.”

Race 2 - Winston Ten Kate Honda rider Chris Vermeulen maintained his excellent form by again taking second place in the second race of the third round of the World Superbike Championship in Valencia, Spain. Chris initially lost a place at the start to fellow Aussie Andy Pitt putting him in 3rd by lap 2, however Chris fought back to reclaim 2nd place on lap 3. He was again made to fight for his place until the end of the race when on lap 11 Chris Walker on a Kawasaki moved up into third and began pushing for Chris in second. Chris held on in an enthralling battle to power his Honda CBR1000RR over the line for a well-deserved second place, his second podium finish of the weekend.

Chris was happy with the weekends racing, “ I’m very happy to walk away with two second place finishes this weekend. I didn’t expect to do so well here in Valencia as testing has been limited, so I’m very happy and the team has worked well for me all weekend. Once again I struggled for grip towards the end of the race as the track temperatures rose and with Stalker (Chris Walker) making it difficult right until the end it was never going to be easy. I’m delighted to walk away from Valencia with more points in the bag.”

Chris and the team will be hoping for more of the same next time out when the World Superbikes visit Monza in Italy in two weeks time.