German MotoGP: Error adds to Chris Vermeulen’s injury woes

Chris Vermeuelen suffered another big injury blow in Germany today when he crashed heavily at the end of opening free practice at the Sachsenring. The Aussie, who is still struggling to shake off injuries picked up in two big crashes at the recent American GP in Laguna Seca, high-sided his factory Suzuki GSV-R at the downhill Turn Two. Vermeulen hit a river of water on a poorly drained section of the track after heavy earlier rain and the former World Supersport champion landed heavily on his left side, which is still not 100 per cent from the trauma received in his double crash in California. Vermeulen limped heavily away from the crash and was left languishing down in 16th place on the timesheets. He said: “It has not been the start to the weekend that I would have wanted! The weather wasn’t ideal and we went out on the wet bike at the beginning, but I had an issue with that and missed a bit of the session. The guys seemed to overcome the problem and I was able to go back out and do a few more laps in the damp conditions. About halfway through we went out on slicks – even though it was still a bit patchy in places – and we were making steps with the bike. I went back out towards the end of the hour and the bike was a big step forward, which helped me get my lap-time down. As I was going across one of the puddles I think I was pushing a bit too hard and had a bit of a slide and crashed. I landed on the same side that I injured in Laguna so I’m not in the best of conditions.”

 

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