Capirossi uninjured after Qatar crash

The Italian lost control of his Desmosedici GP7 at the first turn right at the end of the day and came off the bike.

It was a disappointing end to what had been a promising day for Ducati, with his teammate Casey Stoner having set the third quickest time to be Yamaha's closest challenger.

"Luckily I wasn't hurt," said Capirossi about his accident. " These things happen when you push to the limit and the important thing is not to injure yourself."

Speaking about how his day had gone, Capirossi said: "I am quite satisfied with how we have worked today.

"We've tried a lot of tyres and picked out a couple of things that work well although at the moment there is still a little room for improvement to reduce the rear chatter. Anyway, the bike has adapted well to this circuit and that is positive."

Stoner added: "It has been a really positive day. I didn't know what to expect from this test because even though we went so fast at Phillip Island I thought that was mainly because it is a track that is really suited to the Ducati.

"In fact, the setting worked well here from the first few laps and with just a few small set-up changes the bike is working really well. We've also done a good job with the tyres, which I am very satisfied about. I did have a little bit of chatter today but nothing to worry about too much.

"In the last three tests at Sepang, Phillip Island and now here we have taken big steps forward and now I'm able to get a good feeling with the Ducati straight away. I've got to say thanks to the team because they're doing a great job."