Double-winner Loris Capirossi ready for operation desert storm Ducati star Loris Capirossi, winner of both the Japanese and the Malaysian Grands Prix, is ready to storm the desert of Qatar and to add another milestone result to his recent string of success. “I feel strong enough to win more races this year”, announced the 32-year-old, who moved up to third place in the World Championship point standings and is now aiming even higher for the last four races of this season. “Bridgestone have done an amazing job developing suitable tyres for the Ducati Desmosedici, now you can see the true potential of our bike. They have shown the same commitment and spirit as everyone in Ducati Corse never to give up and always to give 100 per cent.” Capirossi’s Spanish team-mate Carlos Checa confirmed the re-gained strength of Ducati Marlboro with a hard-fought third place in Malaysia, his first podium finish with Ducati and with Bridgestone tyres. “Switching to Bridgestone tyres at the beginning of this season was a risk for Ducati, but it has paid off we have a really good package now”, said the Spaniard who is also full of confidence for the desert race after taking pole position in last year’s Qatar Grand Prix. Despite air temperatures above 40 degrees, racing in the desert only kilometres behind the Persian Gulf isn’t so much a battle against the heat the pit garages are air-conditioned, and the low humidity makes the sunshine outside easier to bear than the muggy, tropical climate of Malaysia. Much trickier is the desert sand. In the first practice sessions last year, the 5.4 kilometre track was so slippery that the MotoGP stars felt like riding in the wet. Track conditions improved somewhat over the weekend, but only on one line. Off-line, the tarmac remained dangerously treacherous, a vast number of riders ended up in the enormous gravel beds. Supplying the right tyres for a sandy track is a tough task, with a lack of grip on hard compounds, and excessive wear on softer compounds, especially for the fronts. Based on the latest successful tyre generation, Bridgestone came up with construction and compound modifications that are expected to suit the unique conditions. Hiroshi Yamada – Motorcycle Racing Manager Bridgestone Motorsport “We were able to achieve our second straight victory in Malaysia as well as a third place finish which were very positive results for us. The new generation tyre used at Sepang was the same as Motegi, and I’m happy to have seen an advantage with these tyres against our competitors. Once again I want to thank Ducati and all our personell involved. Losail is one of the circuits we had the most problems with last year. This week we have brought 3 new specs of front tyres with stronger construction and compounds, to meet the harsh demands on durability, due to high temperature and low grip surface. We have also brought the same rear tyres that worked well in previous races and it will be interesting to see how these tyres will work here. “