Loris Capirossi confident for final MotoGP race after strong Friday practice

The Italian veteran - who is racing with the late Marco Simoncelli's #58 on his Pramac Ducati this weekend - was quickest for a spell in today's opening session and ended the morning in fifth.

"It was an honour to ride with Marco's number on my bike," said Capirossi. "I'm happy with how the morning went, and I'm very optimistic for tomorrow. We can do well."

He was less content with his afternoon form, when he fell to 12th, but felt this was due to a tyre issue.

"It was a bad afternoon," said Capirossi. "The tyres didn't work, so in the final minutes, we had to use my tyres from this morning. They were a bit worn, but I still managed to improve my second session time by three seconds."

Capirossi's team-mate Randy de Puniet was third fastest in second practice and also optimistic that he could sign off for 2011 with a very strong performance.

"I'm satisfied," he said. "The track this morning was quite dry, particularly at the end of the session, and I finished in seventh place. In the afternoon, with the wet track instead, I did well, ending with the seventh best lap time [overall].

"The feeling with the bike is good, I hope it will also be tomorrow. There are many chances to close this season with a good result, even if the my thoughts are to Marco and his family."