Capirossi thrilled to turn season around

The Ducati rider has had a difficult season in the shadow of dominant teammate Casey Stoner. Capirossi struggled to adapt to the 800cc Ducati and had scored just two podiums prior to Motegi, while Stoner swept to eight victories.

Both riders struggled in qualifying in Japan, but Capirossi out-qualified Stoner for the first time as he took eighth on the grid, a place ahead of the Australian.

Capirossi then fell to 14th on the first lap and although he made it back through to seventh, he was unhappy with his wet tyres' performance and decided to pit for dry tyres at the end of lap nine - five laps before the leaders. He soon began to set new fastest laps and emerged with a 14-second lead once all the stops had taken place.

"We struggled a lot during the whole weekend, but yesterday we found a better solution for the bike," Capirossi said.

"When I woke up this morning and saw the rain, I said 'wow, this is for sure a difficult situation'.

"When the race started we didn't know what kind of tyres to put on. We started with harder rain tyres and in the beginning it was really hard for me, so we decided to stop before everybody.

"For sure, my tactic was the best. Winning for the third time consecutively at Motegi is just a great moment for me."

The Italian veteran also paid tribute to teammate Stoner, who clinched his first championship in Japan.

"It's a great day for Australia," Capirossi told the official MotoGP website. "Casey is world champion today and I'm really happy for him, he's a really strong rider."