Fantastic first Rizla Suzuki podium for Capirossi
 Loris
Capirossi raced his Rizla Suzuki GSV-R to his maiden podium
for the team - and 99th overall of his career - at the Czech
Grand Prix in Brno today.
Starting from ninth on the grid Capirossi lost a couple of
places early on, but he fought back to regain them by the
end of the first lap. He then set about hunting down the riders
in front of him and was involved in numerous battles before
making his way up to a podium position on lap seven. He then
became involved in a fight with team-mate Chris Vermeulen
until the experienced Italian finally got the better of his
colleague on lap nine, after the two had overtaken each other
a number of times. Capirossi held on to second place briefly
before being passed by Toni Elias, but from then on a podium
position never looked in doubt and Capirossi crossed the line
in third place to the delight of his team.
Vermeulen had a strong start to the race and was up into
third on the fifth lap, and was then promoted to second when
early race-leader Casey Stoner crashed out. Unfortunately,
Vermeulen couldn’t hold on to a podium position as he
started to suffer with some front grip issues and was relegated
down to seventh. He battled on for the rest of the race and
fought his way back to sixth at the end to leave him in seventh
place overall in the World Championship.
Today’s race was held in dry, but very overcast conditions
with track temperatures reaching 29ºC. A record crowd
of 146,133 packed the circuit to see Valentino Rossi race
to his fifth win of the season and strengthen his lead at
the top of the championship table.
Rizla Suzuki MotoGP now remains in Brno for a two-day test
where it will evaluate many new parts for the ever-improving
Rizla Suzuki GSV-R. The team will then travel to Misano for
the San Marino Grand Prix which will be held on Sunday 31st
August.
Loris Capirossi:
“I want to say what a fantastic day this is for me
today! After the injury in Barcelona I have not had the opportunity
to go quick due to my condition, but all the people around
me - including the whole team and Suzuki - stayed really close
to me and gave me great support so I am really happy to pay
them back with this podium - it actually feels more like a
win for me because it means so much! After the break following
Laguna, I was able to get some rest and start training again
to get myself back in the best condition, and although I am
still not 100% I am nearly there and I was able to challenge
all weekend. My dream this weekend was to fight for a podium,
after Friday I felt I could do that and today I started with
a good focus to do my best. This result is for all the team
and everybody working with me, because when we make a great
result I am really happy, and today I am certainly really
happy!”
Chris Vermeulen:
“I got a good start and was scrapping with the Kawasakis
– which seemed like they were surprisingly fast today
– and got held up by them a bit. I managed to get past
Ant West and then started to catch John Hopkins, but I started
to have some issues with front grip and had to change the
way I was riding the bike. Once I got past John it felt like
I had nothing left and the situation was getting worse –
which was awful as the race was only about seven laps old!
I kept my head down and worked out the best way to ride and
how to try to preserve the tyre. At one stage I thought about
coming in, but I worked it out and managed to get home in
sixth place to get some points. I’d like to congratulate
Loris on his podium today. It was good to see him come back
like that after his injury and I’m very happy for him!”
Paul Denning – Team Manager:
“Everybody at Rizla Suzuki and back at the Factory
are absolutely delighted for Loris that he has overcome the
injuries that have restricted him in the last few Grands Prix
– he has shown true fighting spirit. A podium is a great
reward for his efforts and for his crew who have kept working
so hard to help us move forward. Thanks to Loris and to them!
“Early in the race it also looked like we had the potential
for Chris to be challenging for the podium, but it wasn’t
to be. I think today’s conditions were a bit different
to Friday afternoon and unfortunately both the guys –
but to a larger extent Chris – suffered from that, making
it difficult to keep a consistently fast pace throughout the
race. Nonetheless, Chris adapted well and came back into the
top-six at the end, and again his performance this weekend
has been very strong and consistent.
“Whilst we’re very happy with our third podium
in succession, at the same time we have to be realistic and
acknowledge that the gap to the winning pace is too big for
comfort. We know we have the riders and the crew to take the
next step and we are looking forward to a very extensive test
over the next two days, with a huge number of items to try,
to help us close that gap as quickly as we can.”
Cardion AB Grand Prix Ceske Republicky Race Classification:
1. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 43’28.841: 2. Toni Elias
(Ducati) +15.004: 3. LORIS CAPIROSSI (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOTGP)
+21.689: 4. Shinya Nakano (Honda) +25.859: 5. Anthony West
(Kawasaki) 29.465: 6. CHRIS VERMEULEN (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP)
+30.608:
World Championship Classification:
1. Rossi 237: 2.Casey Stoner (Ducati) 187: 3. Dani Pedrosa
(Honda) 172: 4. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 120: 5. Andrea Dovizioso
(Honda) 110: 7. CHRIS VERMEULEN (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) 99:
10. LORIS CAPIROSSI (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOTGP) 77:
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