Capirossi dissatisfied with Motegi seventh place

Three times a racewinner at Motegi, and starting from the second row of the grid on Sunday, hopes were high for a Loris Capirossi podium in Japan –not least on the part of the rider himself.

Seventh place and his first points of 2009 were of little consolation to the Rizla Suzuki man, who revealed after the race that his aspirations extended much further than a top ten finish.

“I am very disappointed, because our potential was definitely higher,” declared the Italian. “This winter we took a step forward because we had time to develop the engine, but this weekend we only had one dry session. I was really struggling as the race went on, and by the end I was just trying to complete the race.”

Capirossi has plenty of experience at Motegi, but in 2009 there were some adjustments to be made and some novelties with his machinery. He admitted that he had started the race with a setting that had never been tried with the GSV-R in Japan, but refused to blame that for the seventh place.

“The bike was riding pretty well, and I had a good pace and a good feeling with the tyres, but I am devastated for the team that we couldn’t do better. They have worked really hard, and here we should have done much better than what we did!”

Payback time for the veteran will come this coming Sunday at the Gran Premio bwin.com de España, where Capirossi emerged victorious in 2006.