MotoGP: Temperature concern for Chris Vermeulen

Factory Suzuki rider Chris Vermeulen is worried that cold temperatures could have a major impact on the historic first night race in Qatar on Sunday.

Several riders complained about the length of time it took to generate sufficient heat in rear tyres during last week’s two-night test session.

Surprisingly it was the Bridgestone runners who seemed to suffer more than most, and a tyre reaching optimum working temperature is normally one of the Japanese manufacturers big advantages over Michelin.

Chris Vermeulen told MCN: “I noticed it was difficult for warm-up performance.

“I’d put in new tyre and it was taking three to four laps before you can really start to push, especially on the left side because it doesn’t get used a lot.

“That’s normally a Bridgestone strength so hopefully we can have that for the race.”