Capirossi thrilled with top five finish

The former Ducati rider came out on top of a huge battle with James Toseland, Andrea Dovizioso and John Hopkins to secure the position.

Capirossi said it was particularly satisfying as he had only been able to finish eighth in the season-opener at Losail.

"I'm happy because I had some difficulties in Qatar, while here we managed to go a little better in practice, except in qualifying," Capirossi told Italia1 television.

"I knew I could do a good race, especially at the start I was quick and was trying to keep the pace with the top runners. I did an excellent lap at the beginning, then I started to have some problems with the tyres and I preferred to slow down and defend my position.

"I knew that I was slowing down a bit the guys behind me, but that way I could defend myself.

"At the end it was a nice fight with James and with Dovizioso. It was good. James is perhaps a bit too aggressive, while everything was nice with Andrea, we fought all the way to the last turn and in the end I came out better."

He hopes his Jerez race will set the tone for the rest of the season.

"It was a nice race, I hope to see many like these, but most of all to run many like these, maybe even better than this one," Capirossi said. "Let's hope we can improve as soon as possible."