Capirossi offers advice

Loris Capirossi has warned new factory Ducati team-mate Casey Stoner to cut out the crashing and risk-taking.

Speaking for the first time about the Australian’s appointment, Capirossi admitted he’d expected axed Sete Gibernau to keep his seat after Ducati’s failed attempts to land Nicky Hayden and Marco Melandri.

“After Marco said no to signing with us the target of Ducati was to continue with Sete. But Casey we know is stronger, but we don’t know exactly his level,” said Capirossi, who warned Stoner to take his time getting to grips with life at the Bologna factory.

“And we don’t know what he will be like on a Ducati, because Ducati is not Honda. “

Capirossi said there was no doubting Stoner is a precocious talent, and he would try and advise the LCR Honda rider to help him eradicate some of the mistakes that have cost the 21-year-old the chance of a top five finish in this year’s world championship.

Capirossi, who was beaten by Stoner at the Valencia test earlier this month, added: “He is one of the best talents and he is a really fast rider. I think a good rider like me can help him understand what he needs to do.

“I think he must be careful in the beginning to understand the bike and its potential, and then we can see exactly the real potential of him.

“I think it would be wrong to come and try to go quick from the first minutes. Our 800 is a completely new bike and it’s not perfect and there is a lot of work to do. He needs not to start quick immediately but to improve during the season.

“At the moment he makes too many mistakes and Casey is really lucky guy, because I don’t know how many times this year he’s crashed and he’s never got injured.”

Capirossi added that Stoner would have to take his time to get used to the new GP7, claiming the difference between riding Hondas will be a huge eye-opener for the former 125 and 250 rider.

“When you jump on a Honda you just have to concentrate on the tyre and the setting. When you jump on our bike you have to think about everything.

“You have to think about the engine, electronics, suspension, tyres and gearbox. With the Honda you jump on and just work with throttle,” added Capirossi.
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