Vermeulen Withdraws from WSBK Portimao Round

After hoping he could make a return to World Superbike by the Portimao round, Christopher Vermeulen has had to resign today from taking part in the weekend’s races. The Australian rider has been nursing an injured knee since his crash at season opener at Phillip Island, and apparently is unable to ride around the injury this week at Portimao. Check his video on the announcement after the jump.

Despite being cleared by doctors, the pain is reportedly too much for Vermeulen to overcome. Taking his SRT Kawasaki around for only a couple of exploratory laps, Vermeulen decided he would not be able to keep up with the pace of the other riders.

This moves leaves the World Superbike team in a bit of a lurch, as they have no contingency rider in the paddock. This means Tom Sykes will have to carry the team green banner alone while at the Portugese track. All eyes will be looking towards Valencia to see if Vermeulen will be ready by WSBK’s third stop of the season.