Catalunya MotoGP: Casey Stoner slams Loris Capirossi

Casey Stoner blasted former factory Ducati team-mate Loris Capirossi after an incident during opening MotoGP practice in Catalunya this afternoon.

The Aussie was on a fast lap on his factory Ducati GP10 when he came across veteran Italian Loris Capirossi riding at a much slower pace.

Stoner claimed the factory Suzuki rider acknowledged he was fast approaching but was infuriated when the triple world champion refused to move off the racing line.

Stoner was also angered by a similar incident involving Capirossi during last weekend’s Dutch TT at Assen.

And he claimed he would confront the Suzuki rider when the Safety Commission meets tonight in Catalunya about the issue.

The 24-year-old said: “Loris did it to me in Assen twice. It was the same thing. He goes round the corner, looks behind and sees you coming and puts his hand up like ‘okay, I know you’re there’. But he stays on the line.

“I mean, get out of the way. He did the same thing to Alvaro (Bautista). He was coming through turn three with his hand up but he’s on the line. I haven’t had problems with Loris before but it is starting now. I’ll have a talk with him tonight in the Safety Commission.

“I can understand if he is not looking and being ignorant and not knowing we are there. He looks behind and knows we are there and doesn’t move. If you see a rider then normally they get out of the way so you can keep going with the lap.

“But when he’s on the line and you’ve got to try and miss him then it becomes dangerous.”

Stoner then said part of Capirossi’s issue might be due to the fact that he’s having such a woeful time in trying to improve Suzuki’s current predicament.

The Japanese factory is having a nightmare campaign with Capirossi and Bautista sitting in 16th and 17th places in the overall standings after six races.

Stoner added: “I think he’s (Capirossi) lost a little bit of motivation with the bike he’s on.

“Things like that wear you down and being in racing for as long as he has and ridden the amount of piles of crap he has to the limit, then it comes to a time when he’s had enough.

“Personally the Suzuki can do better than what it is doing but unless you’ve got a lot of motivation to keep pushing and trying then it is hard work to get out of bed and feel hungry for it.”

Stoner ended today’s session in second place with a best time of 1.43.412 that was only 0.153s behind Jorge Lorenzo.

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