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2007-10-03 Chris Vermeulen goes home in Barry Sheene livery
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 Rizla Suzuki MotoGP is set to 'go retro' with Chris Vermeulen at his
home Grand Prix in Australia, as the hometown hero pays tribute to his
hero and mentor, Suzuki’s legendary 1976 and 1977 World Champion Barry
Sheene.
The 25-year-old Queenslander will be riding a one-off Rizla Suzuki
GSV-R inspired by Barry Sheene’s Suzuki XR-14 Grand Prix bike of the
mid-seventies. The 2007 800cc GSV-R will have an individually designed
Rizla blue and white paint-scheme that will also feature a tribute to
Sheene’s famous crossed seven, set within Vermeulen’s 71.
Suzuki’s Grand Prix winning Australian will also be sporting a retro
style race-suit to match the bike and a helmet inspired by Sheene’s
iconic style.
Vermeulen was singled out as a remarkable talent by Sheene in the
nineties and he persuaded the young Aussie to go to Britain and pursue
his racing dream. Vermeulen took Sheene’s advice and has never looked
back since then, winning a World Championship on his way to becoming a
full-time MotoGP racer with Rizla Suzuki.
Rizla Suzuki MotoGP and Vermeulen will unveil the bike at Phillip
Island on Thursday 11th October, in the Team’s pit-box at 16.45hrs
local time.
Team-mate John Hopkins will be racing in his usual, instantly
recognisable Rizla Blue colour scheme at Phillip Island as he lines up
alongside Vermeulen for round 16 of the MotoGP World Championship on
Sunday 14th October.
Chris Vermeulen:
This is a great honour for me to ride
the latest generation of Suzuki GP bike in a colour scheme inspired by
my hero, Barry Sheene. Barry did a lot to make sure I became a success
when I arrived in the UK and I miss him a lot. I rode one of his XR-14
Grand Prix bikes at the Goodwood Festival of Speed last year and that
was certainly a privilege, but to ride my bike in the same livery is
just awesome. Thanks to Suzuki and the team for letting this happen, I
just hope that we can do credit to it!
Paul Denning - Team Manager:
Towards the end of 1998, when I was
running our fledgling Suzuki British Superbike team, my wife took a
call at home and yelled that it was Barry Sheene on the line. ‘Yeah,
right, of course it is’ was my response but sure enough it was Barry
himself telling me that I had to get this new Australian kid on our
bike for 1999. We couldn’t then, as our deals were done, but it was a
great pleasure to shake Chris’s hand to become a Suzuki Grand Prix
rider just a few years later and I’m sure that Barry would have
approved. This one-off livery looks stunning and it’s a pleasure to be
able to run it in Australia, Barry’s second home.
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