Suzuki might have left Malaysia a little deflated had their ninth (Vermeulen) and tenth (Capirossi) positions been representative of the team's form - but it wasn't; both Vermeulen and Capirossi set their best lap times on race tyres, unlike seven of the eight riders ahead of them, and would have been ranked fourth and fifth if qualifying tyres hadn't appeared. Vermeulen's 2mins 1.748secs also marked his best ever Sepang lap time and was set during the hottest part of the day.
The enthusiastic Australian took his first win in the wet at Le Mans last year - plus three other podiums - but was often forced to mount costly 'comeback' rides after struggling in qualifying, hurting his overall championship position.
Nevertheless, Vermeulen still only lost out on fourth and fifth in the championship to team-mate
John Hopkins and Gresini's
Marco Melandri at the very final round. Back on track at the Sepang test and Chris was seen circulating with - amongst others - Hopkins, now at Kawasaki, as each sized the other up.
"Everybody wants to know how their bike compares with the other bikes out there - especially with John because he was on our bike last year, so we want to beat him for sure!" admitted Chris, who was riding with his new Barry Sheene-inspired #7 for the first time in public. "I can say that Suzuki has done a good job."
Vermeulen's next test will be at his home circuit of Phillip Island, from January 30 to February 1.
