Capirossi adds to Melandri criticism

Ducati Marlboro rider Melandri was riding at slow speed on the racing line when Tech 3 Yamaha rival Colin Edwards came up while trying to improve on his lap.

The accident prompted Edwards to slow down to make angry gestures at the Italian, just as Capirossi, also on a quick lap, was coming up from behind.

The MotoGP veteran had to swerve to avoid the arguing duo and lost time, ultimately qualifying in eleventh place.

"I think more attention needs to be paid on the last lap," Capirossi told Italia1 television. "It's normal everyone is pushing in the last two minutes of qualifying, so when you come out of the pits you should control yourself.

"I was some way behind Colin. He was pushing and Marco didn't look while he was on the racing line. Colin started making gestures towards Marco while I was coming up. At the exit of the turn I found both of them in front of me in the middle of the track.

"It's a shame because I lost my lap, but no one got hurt nor fell, so it's ok. On that lap I was five tenths down in T3, so I could have been fifth or sixth or seventh even if I lost some tenths in the last sector. But it's not a problem."

Despite qualifying out of the top ten, Capirossi is confident his package will allow him to ride near the front tomorrow, provided he can have a good start of the race.

"As for tomorrow I'm quite satisfied with the way we did today with the race tyres," he said.

"I made a big improvement from this morning and from yesterday. We changed the set-up by quite a bit so I think that tomorrow, if we start well, we can stay among the best guys, but not with the guys at the front who are a bit quicker.

"This is a track where you need to be a bit more aggressive to overtake compared to other tracks. But this is no problem for me. If I need to put more grit in, I always do."