Loris Capirossi boosts confidence in Jerez

Italian Loris Capirossi said his pre-season confidence that Suzuki could spring a major surprise in 2009 has increased after his impressive third place in the final winter test in Jerez.

The new Suzuki GSV-R has been the big surprise of MotoGP winter testing and Capirossi claimed his second top three testing finish of the year during the televised BMW shootout in Spain yesterday (Sunday).

Only a dominant Casey Stoner and reigning world champion Valentino Rossi were able to lap faster than Capirossi, who celebrates his 36th birthday on Saturday.

Further boosting optimism at Suzuki was another encouraging performance from Aussie Chris Vermeulen, who ended the test in fifth place, just 0.019s slower than Jorge Lorenzo.

Triple world champion Capirossi told MCN: “We have confirmed how far we have improved and I’m very happy with third. That’s my target for the season.

“I know that Suzuki can still improve, but it really is a great moment for me to be so fast. My motivation could not be higher and I can see a really good season ahead.”

What has given Capirossi cause for optimism is that Suzuki’s 2009 factory GSV-R has now been able to post competitive lap times on three different tracks in the winter.

“We know the bike works quite well in Sepang, but we knew it was much better at that track. We struggled a lot in Qatar and Jerez last year but now we are competitive at both tracks.

“To be successful you need a bike that can work at all types of tracks. Sepang and Qatar are fast tracks, but Jerez not so fast, but we are close to the best times and that is good.”