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Capirossi thrilled with turnaround

Loris Capirossi praised his Suzuki team after turning a poor qualifying performance into a top five finish at Catalunya

Both Suzukis started outside the top ten for the first time this year, but Capirossi was able to charge through the field in the race and eventually win a long battle for fifth with Honda's Dani Pedrosa.

"This was the same position as Mugello, but this is a different one because we have worked so hard to get this and it is a great result," said Capirossi.

"All the team - especially [crew chief] Stuart [Shenton] - have worked so hard to get us where we are today. After qualifying I didn't feel that the bike was quite right and Stuart worked with the guys until late to find a solution. He told me that he was going to make big changes for the race and we tried it during this morning's warm-up and the bike felt really good.

"During the race I kept my rhythm after a good start and when I got close to Pedrosa I lost some time off the front guys because his bike was so fast in some places I couldn't get past, and he held me up a bit.

"If I hadn't got stuck for a few laps I think I could have stayed with the next group and got a better result."

He was also delighted with the performance of Suzuki's new engine, having been hampered by poor straightline speed since winter testing.

"I want to say a big thank you to Suzuki because they have brought a new engine here and it was an improvement on the old one," Capirossi said. "I think if I'd had that engine in Mugello I'd have been on the podium,"

Team boss Paul Denning was similarly delighted with the result, and agreed that it bodes well for the rest of the season.

"Fifth place can be either very disappointing - as it was in Mugello - or very encouraging and positive - as it was today," he said.

"We left ourselves a bit of a mountain to climb after qualifying, but Stuart and the boys turned the bike upside down for warm-up this morning and we gave Loris a much stronger motorcycle, and he was able to use its full potential as he rode a fantastic race.

"I think if we'd started with that bike on Friday we could have pushed for a better result.

"The new engine specification definitely helped, and although the difference isn't big, it's enough to have a significant bearing on the end result. So I'd like to say thanks to the factory for speeding up the development and delivering it to Catalunya this weekend."

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