Capirossi crashes in Qatar

Loris Capirossi emerged unscathed after he crashed his new Ducati GP7 800 late on the first afternoon of the IRTA test in Qatar today.

The Italian walked away uninjured after the crash at the first corner that caused minor to damage to the right side of his V4 bike.

Marlboro Ducati team boss Livio Suppo said: “The rider is OK, and the bike is more or less OK.” Capirossi ended the opening day seventh quickest, a fraction over 0.5s slower than fastest rider Colin Edwards.

It was an impressive start to the test for Australian team-mate Casey Stoner. He clocked the third best time behind dominant factory duo Edwards and Valentino Rossi with a best time of 1.59.964.

Stoner, who exploded onto the MotoGP scene last year in Qatar when he grabbed a brilliant pole position, was just 0.186s off Edwards’fastest time.