Capirossi regrets his tyre choice

The Ducati rider dominated at Brno in 2006 but finished a distant sixth this year, 19.3 seconds behind his victorious teammate Casey Stoner.

"It's a shame because today was a wasted opportunity," Capirossi said. "I made a mistake when I chose my tyre allocation on Thursday. I decided to trust one type of construction that worked very well last year, especially getting into the corners.

"But unfortunately it wasn't competitive from the early stages of today's race. I used a harder compound and it didn't work so well."

Capirossi spent much of the race embroiled in a battle with Valentino Rossi - being overtaken by the Yamaha rider early on, before re-passing him as his tyres faded.

"I was slow going into the corners and I took a couple of big risks in the last long corner," said Capirossi. "Valentino overtook me on one of those occasions, the front tucked and I went wide.

"After that I was able to pass him again but I couldn't catch the front group."

He believes he had the pace to match Nicky Hayden, who ultimately finished third. "It's a real shame because I think I could have stayed with Nicky," Capirossi said.

"We will do better in the next race at Misano, it's another home GP and I look forward to racing there."