Australian-born motorcycle racer Chris Vermeulenlooks like your average, clean-cut boy-next-door. If you passed him on the sidewalk in his current locale of residence, Andorra, you might mistake him for a grad student or a young entrepreneur. What you'd likely fail to guess is that this good-looking but unassuming twenty-something, with the close-cropped hair, is actually a champion motorcycle racer with more awards under his belt than fingers on his hand. And toes on his feet.



Vermeulen began riding before mastering long division or growing facial hair. He has spent more years on a motorcycle than off at 25 years of age. Vermeulen's professional racing career took off when he entered the Australian Superbike Championship in 1999 at only 17 years old; he placed 8th. After honing his craft for several years on the professional circuit and garnering more and more international attention, Vermeulen left the Superbike World Championship for good in 2006 to enter the elitist Moto Grand Prix Series.

Vermeulen has made a name for himself in motor-cross racing as an expert in wet-weather riding, distinguishing himself from many of his fellow competitors. It was on a particularly wet ride in the Turkey Moto Grand Prix in 2006 that Vermeulen scored his first pole position. Much of his 2006 Moto GP career was spent gaining experience and making a name for himself in the Moto Grand Prix series. The beginning of the 2007 season found that Vermeulen had proved himself as a formidable foe, though he had yet to bring home any big wins. But Vermeulen continued to accumulate points and his scores kept him in the top 10. He was finally able to break out at the Bugatti Circuit Le Mans in May of 2007 to take his very first Moto Grand Prix Victory. Incidentally, it was a rainy race and his expertise as a wet track rider undoubtedly helped to boost him ahead of his fellow racers to take the title.

Vermeulen speaks modestly of himself and recounts an average life during his formative years (if you consider professional motor cross racing throughout your teenage years as "average"). Born in Queensland, Australia as the lone son in a family of girls - three sisters, to be exact. Vermeulen grew up doing all the things that boys do with their families, like visiting with Santa at Christmas time and torturing his sisters. But a look at Vermeulen's photo album reveals that motorcycles and racing were never far from the equation. Vermeulen's love affair with motorcycle racing has been as much a part of his upbringing as school, play time and everything else that normal boys do.

Today from his home in Andorra, Vermeulen particularly enjoys returning to his native Australia to race in front of a hometown crowd. Though his life seems charmed, Vermeulen takes exception with anyone who says he must have the perfect life. He admits that sometimes all the travelling wears on him, especially the numerous airplane rides going from race location to race location. But one thing that never changes or gets old is Vermeulen's love for motorcycle racing and Chris Vermeulen fans can expect to see his racing career continue to flourish in the seasons to come.