Suzuki riders stay

From Suzuki: Loris Capirossi and Chris Vermeulen have both agreed terms to continue riding for the Suzuki MotoGP squad for a further season.

Capirossi joined at the end of 2007 and has shown throughout the 2008 season that his energy and enthusiasm for racing are still as high as ever.

Indeed, his desire to compete for Suzuki at the highest level of motorcycle racing has seen him race this season with serious injuries that would have sidelined many other riders.

Capirossi's wealth of knowledge and experience has been invaluable to the development of the Suzuki GSV-R during this year, both in a racing and developmental role, and he is determined to turn Suzuki's 800cc prototype machine into a race-winning bike during the remainder of 2008 and through 2009.

Capirossi comes from Bologna in Italy and began Grand Prix racing in 1990.

He has won World Championship titles in both the 125cc class (twice) and the 250cc categories.

He still holds the record for becoming the youngest ever World Champion and also the record for the longest winning career in Grand Prix racing, a time-span of over 17 years from his first victory (125cc - Great Britain, 1990) to his most recent (MotoGP - Japan, 2007).

He has also just broken the record for the most starts at Grand Prix events, an amazing 277 races.

Capirossi has achieved 99 podiums and 41 pole positions in all categories throughout his career - totals he is determined to add to whilst riding with Suzuki.

Vermeulen joined Suzuki at the Valencia test in 2005 - having finished as runner-up in the World Superbike Championship that year - and made his racing debut at Jerez in 2006.
He achieved his first pole position in Turkey that year and followed up with his debut podium in Suzuki colours at his home Grand Prix in Australia later that same season.

Vermeulen then created history for Suzuki by becoming the first winner for the famous Japanese marque in the four-stroke era, when he raced to a stunning wet-weather victory at Le Mans in France in 2007 -- a season that also saw him take three further podiums, one pole-position and two front-row starts.

So far in 2008, Vermeulen has had back-to-back podiums in Germany and America and currently sits in sixth place in the riders' championship.

Vermeulen hails from the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia.

The 26-year-old Australian races with the crossed number seven on his bike, a number made famous by the late Suzuki great Barry Sheene.

Vermeulen began road racing in 1998 -- after winning a number of Dirt Track championships -- where he was soon spotted by Sheene who persuaded Vermeulen to leave his home and race in the UK in 2000.

Vermeulen spent two years racing Superstock and Supersport classes in Britain before moving to the World Supersport Championship, a title that he won in 2003.

Since making the switch to MotoGP, Vermeulen has become a very popular member of the Suzuki team and a highly-respected rider amongst his peers and fans alike.

"I'm extremely happy to be staying with the Suzuki team; it is a factory and squad that I know well and respect enormously.

"Over the last three years there has been big progress with both the machine and with my level as a rider.

"Suzuki was my entry into Grand Prix racing, I have been here for three years and won a GP -- and been on podium many times -- so I am really pleased to be continuing this relationship.

"I had offers from other teams, but I always felt that I wanted to stay with Suzuki if we could get the terms agreed so that everyone was happy.

"Luckily we were able to do that, so now I can get on with trying to win more races and help Suzuki get to a World Championship challenging level."