Although Maverick Viñales was fastest in MotoGP testing at Phillip Island, Chris Vermeulen retains Marc Márquez as favorite for the world title.
The Australian Chris Vermeulen (34 years old) was the 2003 Supersport World Champion on a Honda Ten Kate, before arriving in MotoGP with Suzuki in 2006.
He brought the Hamamatsu firm its first Grand Prix victory with a 4-stroke, at Le Mans in the rain in 2007. After 4 seasons in Grand Prix, he returned to WSBK with Kawasaki before making a final and brief return in GP to replace Colin Edwards at Le Mans 2012 aboard the Forward Suter-BMW.
Commentator for the Australian channel “Fox Sports”, he shared his vision of this pre-season with speedweek, clearly making Marc Marquez his favorite, even if the latter spends his time saying that his bike is difficult…
Chris Vermeulen: “I think the Honda is not the best bike. Without Marc, Honda would be in a different position. But they have Marc, and with him on the RCV, they are probably the hottest contenders for the title once again.”
Valentino Rossi said in Australia that he does not believe Márquez's words (complaints), he considers them as chatter. For Rossi, it is clear: Márquez is clearly the fastest over the distance of the race.
“As a racing driver you can't stand still, or you go nowhere. Marc knows exactly where he is, but he wants to improve the bike. I even think he speaks much less to the media than he does at Honda. Yes, there is no justified complaint. The Honda engine has its strengths and weaknesses. We must use the strengths and eliminate the weaknesses. It's the same with the chassis and suspensions. Marc is doing everything he can to be the fastest.”
But fans must be wondering what he's talking about, since after all, he's never done worse than second (in Australia)…
“I understand that the fans think that way. Most fans agree with Valentino. For me it's a little different, I was a driver myself and I understand what Marc means. Now I’m in the media, and we love Valentino.”
Photo credit: Claudio Silva
