Capirossi expects Jerez breakthrough

Suzuki had flown in winter testing, but has struggled to reproduce that speed race conditions. Capirossi crashed out in Qatar and then took a low-key seventh in Japan last weekend.

The Italian believes Suzuki is struggling because it needs more time to refine its set-ups, and 2009's shortened practice schedule is making this hard to achieve on race weekends.

But he thinks Jerez will be much better for the team - especially as he had been third-fastest there in the qualifying simulation at the end of March.

"I have been very disappointed with the first two races because the weather has meant we haven't been able to get the work done that we have wanted to on the bike, so it is good to go to a track where we have done some testing at already this year," said Capirossi.

"We are going there with a good base setting and that should make the bike work pretty well straight out of the box. I am aiming for a high position this week, not just for me, but for all my crew and everyone at Suzuki because they really deserve it."

His team-mate Chris Vermeulen is similarly optimistic that Jerez will be a turning point.

"We had a very good pre-season test there and I am looking forward to getting back on track and making the most of what we discovered there last month, in terms of set-up and tyre performance - especially as the track had just been re-surfaced," said the Australian.

"I hope that I can qualify on at least the front two rows and then I'll be able to challenge at the front right from the start and try to get on the podium