Capirossi thrilled by return to form

It was the first time that Capirossi had beaten teammate Casey Stoner in 2007, the Italian having struggled to match the young Australian's pace for most of the year.

As Stoner's Bridgestone tyres faded in the race, Capirossi's alternative compound remained in good shape and allowed him to move from seventh on the grid to second.

"I dedicate this second place - which for me is a victory - to my wife and my son Riccardo who deserve it, and especially the people who stayed close to me during this difficult period when everyone regarded me as finished. I'm still here, so I'm happy," Capirossi told Italia1 television.

"I used tyres totally different from everyone else. It was a bit of a gamble, but I tested this type of tyres for many laps. I also scrubbed the tyres for two laps in the warm-up and I started the race with them.

"At the end it was tough, but I had a fine race and I'm very happy. I managed to fight with the others and overtake a few. Today I was back to enjoying myself: I think that's the most important thing."

Capirossi had earlier found it difficult to acclimatise to the 800cc Ducati. He revealed that he had now gone in a totally different technical direction to Stoner in order to better adapt the bike to his riding style.

"Since this race Stoner and I have completely different bikes. With my team we developed a totally different set-up from the one he uses, so he can't use my tyres. It's not bad," he said.

"I'm doing my best to learn how to use this bike. It's a very aggressive bike, so with the team we tried to sort everything out.

"We tried to be as careful as possible with the throttle, I'm usually pretty aggressive, but today I went more calmly.

"I didn't attack at the beginning, I kept behind the top group even if they were one second and a half ahead. I knew I could keep that pace up. When they started struggling a bit I attacked and took my position."

The Italian veteran has been at the centre of paddock rumours regarding 2008, having been linked with a move to Kawasaki or Suzuki.

Capirossi said he felt his Sachsenring performance had restored his reputation, but believes he should have been judged on his whole career rather than his fluctuating 2007 fortunes.

"Today I'm very, completely happy because most people regarded me as finished since a few races ago, so this for me is a double, triple, quadruple satisfaction," he said.

"You can't see the talent of a rider in a single race. You see it over the years. In all these years I've demonstrated a lot, so I don't think decisions should be made by looking at just the first part of this season. I'm here and I always will be."