Capirossi urges team to keep pushing

The veteran Italian has been amongst the front-runners throughout winter testing, and was beaten by only last year's title rivals Casey Stoner and Valentino Rossi in today's test shoot-out.

"I think this has been a very positive day, especially this morning because we found a good setting that made the bike very comfortable for me to ride fast," said Capirossi.

"Today's third-place was in a 45-minute session, but the good thing is that this was like a qualifying session that we will have in the season and everybody had the same tyre so we have got to be pleased with that."

He reckons he is in much better shape than when starting his first Suzuki season last year, in which he took just one podium finish.

"I worked hard with the whole team and tested many things and I now have a really good feeling - I can say that it is a 100 per cent improvement from last year," Capirossi said. "In every test we have been competitive and this is very important for us."

But he said the team's work had only just begun, as he is determined to fight with Stoner and Rossi later in the season.

"The position today is good but we have to continue to work as hard as we have done this year," Capirossi said. "The factory has done a really great job in the winter, but we have to continue because our potential is good, but not at the top and we need to be at the top.

"This is only the beginning really because we need to go well in a race and we don't care a lot about today's result as it will be when the racing starts that it matters."