Sachsenring MotoGP: Rain specialist Chris Vermeulen back on podium

Chris Vermeulen did little to dispel the theory that he is a rain expert after he claimed his first podium of 2008 in a weather-hit German GP.

The Aussie surged through from the fifth row to claim third behind compatriot Casey Stoner and Valentino Rossi as he fended off a persitent challenge from Alex de Angelis.

Vermeulen said: “We had a bad qualifying session yesterday and starting from the fifth row made it quite difficult. There was a lot of spray with a lot of bikes. but I stayed upright in the first few laps, and as Casey said, we also used a harder tyre and it was difficult to get heat into it. But after we got that tyre working, I got into my rhythm, I felt quite comfortable, but there was no way I was catching the two guys at the front. They were too fast today and full credit to them. It was a really difficult race, as there was a lot more water than we had practised in on this circuit. I have got to give full credit to Bridgestone as they pushed me to go for a much harder compound than I wanted and it definitely worked. I really want to thank my crew as well, and the Japanese Suzuki staff, as we didn’t really have a lot of set-up in the rain but the bike worked really well. It wasn’t perfect but it was more than capable of getting me home, so I am really pleased to have put it on the podium for them as well. Let’s hope this is the start of a good run and now we are off to a track I enjoy a lot so hopefully we can move up to the top step there!”