Ducati ready to race

Loris Capirossi believes Ducati’s new GP7 is ready to race and be at the front after he finished the Phillip Island test with fourth fastest time.

The veteran Italian was second quickest on race tyres with a best lap of 1.30.14 that he set during a distance run of 20 laps just before midday local time.

Capirossi, who finished third in last year’s MotoGP world championship, said: “I think we are ready but we still have two more tests to improve the bike and this is positive. The last day in Sepang and the three days in Phillip Island have seen us make good progress with the bike and I think we will be competitive at the first race in Qatar.”

Capirossi’s distance run was short of full 27-lap Australian GP distance and it is understood he pulled in early with a blistered rear Bridgestone tyre. He said the plan had only ever been to complete a 20-lap simulation, but the same problem also struck factory Ducati team-mate Casey Stoner, who was hugely impressive in his distance run of 22 laps. 

The Aussie set his best time of the day of 1.30.20 in his long run which gave him the third best time on race tyres and the fifth fastest overall. Other Bridgestone riders including Chris Vermeulen and Marco Melandri confirmed they had rear tyre grip issues in their long runs. 

Vermeulen actually aborted his planned race simulation after just 13 laps with bad blistering on the left-hand side of the tyre. Melandri meanwhile stayed out for 26 laps even though he was struggling with rear grip from lap five, he confirmed at the end of the session.