Capirossi: new son a distraction at Jerez

Capirossi's wife gave birth to their first child just days after the Spanish Grand Prix.

Although he was insistent at the time that the event was not on his mind, the Italian has now admitted that his perception was wrong.

"I didn't think I was having problems in Jerez, but I was," Capirossi said in an interview with Italian magazine Motosprint. "I was thinking about what was about to happen, about (pregnant wife) Ingrid. I couldn't avoid it."

With almost a whole month's break since Jerez, however, Capirossi feels that he is now able to fully focus on racing again.

"I've been lucky. I needed the long break to get ready to start over, and also to spend time with my baby," he said. "I can't wait to get back to racing, even though the track awaiting us is a bit strange. I like it.

"However, with these new regulations limiting the tyres, we'll have more difficulties because we're a bit behind our rivals.

"The post-GP tests at Losail and Jerez would have been useful to us, but it was very windy in Qatar and it rained in Spain. Practically it was all useless, but (Casey) Stoner told me the new wet-weather Bridgestones are very good."

Capirossi believes he has suffered compared to teammate Stoner because he has not been able to set up his Ducati bike to his liking - something that should be cured in the post-Turkey test next week.

"My problem with the 800cc bike is that I haven't yet been able to set it up the way I like," he said.

"After the Turkish GP we'll stay there to test and it will be important to work on the frame they've built for me and which I haven't been able to really get to know yet. In Qatar I used it but I fell.

"In Jerez, I decided not to use it. But now I want to get to the bottom of it, and understand whether it can really help me.

"The Ducati, in any case, is a good bike, otherwise it wouldn't have won. It's just that I've struggled to adapt to it.

"We have plenty of power, and if you're sorted you can ride the bike. Our package gives a good feeling, but the problem is that I haven't yet found it."