Capirossi to announce Ducati return at 200th MotoGP?

Loris Capirossi is set to make his 200th 500cc/MotoGP start this weekend at the Misano, when he might also announce a return to the Ducati for 2011.

The Italian - a factory Ducati rider from 2003-2007 and a Rizla Suzuki rider since - is known to be negotiating closely for a seat with the satellite Pramac Ducati squad for 2011.

Misano, the last home round of the year for Capirossi, Pramac and Ducati, would be an ideal time to announce if a deal has been done. Capirossi has also been linked with the Honda LCR.

Capirossi - a former 125 and double 250cc world champion with nine premier-class grand prix victorious to his credit - hasn't taken a podium since Brno 2008 (his 99th in grand prix and also Suzuki's most recent podium) and is a disappointing 13th in the 2010 championship with seven rounds to go.

The 37-year-old will become only the second rider in the 62-year history of motorcycle Grand Prix racing to reach the milestone of 200 starts in the premier-class, behind Honda Pons former team-mate Alex Barros (245 starts).

Capirossi made his premier-class GP debut in the opening race of the 1995 season at the Eastern Creek in Australia and competed for two years in the class before dropping back down to the 250cc class for three years.

The #65 then return to 500cc in 2000 and has been in the premier-class ever since.

Below are some other facts and statistics relating to the Capirossi's career in the
premier-class:

* Capirossi has the fourth longest winning career of all-time in the premier-class: 10 years 338 days between his first win in the 500cc class at Eastern Creek Australia in 1996 and his last MotoGP win in Japan in 2007. Only Alex Barros, Phil Read and Giacomo Agostini have longer winning careers in the premier-class.

* Capirossi has won premier-class GP races on four different motorcycles: 500cc Yamaha, 500cc Honda, 990cc Ducati and 800cc Ducati.

* Capirossi is one of only four riders to have won in the premier-class on bikes from three different manufacturers. The other riders to have done this are: Mike Hailwood, Eddie Lawson and Randy Mamola.

Rizla Suzuki with plenty to go on from Brno test

The MotoGP team conducted a successful day’s work on the Monday with Loris Capirossi, Álvaro Bautista and Sylvain Guintoli putting the GSV-R through its paces.

Rizla Suzuki completed most of its full test programme and acquired a large amount of data from the Monday’s test at the Brno circuit before rain brought the day’s proceedings to a premature end.

Loris Capirossi and Álvaro Bautista were joined at the Czech Republic track by Suzuki WSBK rider Sylvain Guintoli, who was called up to provide cover for the test if Bautista was unable to participate following his huge crash in the Saturday’s practice.

Capirossi and Bautista were able to test many new and revised parts for the Suzuki GSV-R including two new chassis, new Öhlins forks and updated engine management programmes. Guintoli was able to complete three runs to get some data for his riding style early in the morning. The talented Frenchman was then scheduled to do a longer test run in the afternoon, but the rain intervened and ruined any chance he had of assisting with the further evaluation of the GSV-R.

Rizla Suzuki will now assess the information from the test and hopefully be able to make some important steps and the decisive changes in time for the next round of the season at Indianapolis in America on Sunday 29th August.

Capirossi and Bautista underline importance of Brno

The Rizla Suzuki riders are determined to make the tenth round of the 2010 season a notable one as they resume their respective campaigns at the Cardion ab Grand Prix Czech Republic.

Loris Capirossi and Álvaro Bautista return to action this weekend in search of a positive start to the second half of the season, as they each target a strong weekend at the Brno as well as a productive test on Monday.

The Czech track should provide the ideal setting for the Rizla Suzuki team to make headway as it is the site of the Capirossi’s last podium finish on the GSV-R, which came in 2008. With that knowledge the Italian is aiming for an immediately productive start when practice gets underway on Friday.

“Brno will be a very important race for us, we know the GSV-R can go well there and it is a track I know well and like to race at so we will be looking to be competitive right from the start of the weekend,” he stated.

“We also have an important test planned for the Monday after the race, so going into that in a positive frame of mind will be very good for the whole team. We will be hoping that the results are positive and we’ll be giving everything to make sure they are.”

Bautista has form at the circuit too having won there in the 125cc class in 2006 with podium finishes in the 250cc category for the past two seasons. After disappointing ends to his previous two MotoGP races the Spaniard is aiming to rediscover the form that led him to a season’s best finish of fifth at Catalunya at the start of July.

“I am very fired up for Brno; I need to get back on the bike and racing again. I feel as fit as I have done all the season and want to use this race as the ‘new start’ of the year,” said Bautista enthusiastically. “I don’t really like the Brno circuit, but it is a lot like Barcelona so I feel confident that I can go well there.”

He continued: “I still have a lot to learn, but I hope this will be the start of a good run-in to the end of the season and we can get some good results and keep improving with every race. The whole Rizla Suzuki team has been fantastic since I joined and has made me very welcome and been very professional and patient with me even while I was injured, so it is now time for me to start giving them something back and Brno will be a good place to start.”

LORIS CAPIROSSI

Nationality	Italian
Date of birth	April 4, 1973
Place of birth	Castel San Pietro Terme, Bologna
Current team	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
Bike number	65
Championships	125cc – 1990, 1991 250cc – 1998
Race starts	308
Wins	29
Podium finishes	99
Pole positions	41
Fastest laps	32
Points	3139
2009 championship position	9th (110 pts)