Australian Chris Vermeulen triumphed on a very wet Le Mans track over the weekend on his Rizla Suzuki. The Sunshine Coast rider’s strategy of coming in early for a bike swap when the rain began to fall, paid the ultimate dividend by giving him his maiden victory on the MotoGP scene.

Vermeulen rode a sensible race to eventually win with a margin of 12 seconds over tough Italian Marco Melandri on a Honda. Vermeulen’s compatriot, Casey Stoner, finished a ‘mature’ third on the factory Ducati. For Vermeulen it was his second podium in the MotoGP class after his third place at Phillip Island last year, also in the wet.

The conditions went from suspect to bad then worse over the course of the race, and with this year’s new tyre rules combined with the ability for riders to swap bikes if it rains, made for some interesting scenes in pit lane.

The biggest loser in the race would have to be Texan Tornado Colin Edwards. Colin must have walked under a ladder just as a black cat crossed his path, then tripped over a mirror which he then broke. The guy could not take a trick. After a blistering qualifying session which saw him take his maiden pole position on the Fiat Yamaha M1, he was swamped at the start and had considerable problems with his rear tyre. He pitted twice in the race. Fortunately he was able to salvage a 12th placing, albeit two laps down.

His team mate Valentino Rossi wasn’t without issues of his own. As I have pointed out in previous articles, Rossi just doesn’t look comfortable. Admittedly, neither would I at Le Mans, but he again made simple errors trying to turn his bike in through the challenging corners. It seemed as if the front suspension was a little hard, causing him to drop from leading the race, to a somewhat lacklustre 6th. In fact his 6th only came about by Nicky Hayden crashing out with a handful of laps to go.

Hayden seems to be suffering as well, and although he performed well in the wet, it would be safe to say his title defence is finished. He fought well to get fifth from Rossi, but his off was disappointing. This disappointment was clearly visible immediately after the incident, which left him stranded in the ‘kitty litter’.