Chris Vermeulen admits Ducati concern

Chris Vermeulen has admitted he was worried about joining Ducati in MotoGP next season because of the difficulty in matching compatriot Casey Stoner’s results.

Confident he would not be another high-profile victim of Ducati’s fickle Desmosedici, Vermeuelen still opted to reject a chance to join the Pramac satellite squad, instead signing a two-year deal with Kawasaki’s World Superbike effort.

Asked by MCN why had opted not to prolong his MotoGP career on a Ducati to move back to World Superbikes for the first time since 2005, the Aussie said: “One thing is who else can ride it apart from Casey? I don’t want to be one of those other guys that tried on a Ducati but didn’t get there. I don’t think I would have done myself any harm by being there but if I can do myself some good by going somewhere else then that’s what I want to do.”