Capirossi happy to be fit again

The 35-year-old Suzuki rider, who was forced to miss the Dutch TT after a footpeg gouged his forearm in a practice crash, claims he is now back to full fitness after a competitive showing placed him 0.7s behind pace-setter Casey Stoner.

"I am really happy with today's performance because after the first couple of laps this morning I was a bit worried, because we just hadn't got the setting right," he said. "I think that was mostly down to the new surface and it was a bit dirty and made it very difficult to control the bike.

"I came into the box and we made some changes to the bike and by the end of this morning's session the feeling was good. We made a lot more changes this afternoon and with the new setting I felt really good on the bike.

"My lap time is not too bad, but I think we can improve on that, we have the power and I need to work on my rhythm a bit.

"One of the best things today is that I am nearly at 100% after the injury, my condition is great and this weekend I want to give the team something good because after recent races they really need it!"

Teammate Chris Vermeulen was equally encouraged by his pace, which was good enough to put him sixth, although half a second back from Capirossi.

"The bike worked well straight out of the crate and we used the base setting that we have had success with at the last couple of races," he said. "We are working on a few modifications and doing some longer runs on the tyres to test the durability on the new surface.

"It seems to be going really well and we have a couple more things to work on tomorrow. I'm quite looking forward to the weekend and just hope the weather stays good."