Sepang (Malaysia), 24 January 2005

Today was another positive day of non-stop testing for Loris Capirossi, while Carlos Checa was unable to test the Desmosedici GP5 due to the condition of his injured hand. The Italian rider, who continued the development work on the new bike, completed 60 laps of the Sepang circuit in sweltering conditions (track temperature 56°).

"Today was another excellent day for Loris, confirming that the GP5 has already reached a good level, and so is Loris's confidence with the new Bridgestone tyres", declared Livio Suppo, Ducati MotoGP project manager. "Unfortunately Carlos wasn't feeling well this morning, he had a big headache and we preferred to let him rest for the whole day. It's nothing serious, just a severe bout of flu, probably due to his overall condition following his hand injury, which however is improving, and tomorrow we hope he will join Loris on the track".







"It's a real pleasure to be able to work in this way, a great satisfaction and an important boost", declared Loris Capirossi "We got though a lot of work and tested several different set-ups, and were able to confirm that the chassis is performing well. We also made another step forward with the Bridgestone tyres, in particular with the front which is perfect. Now we have to concentrate on the rear tyre, in order to be competitive over race distance. Tomorrow will be another day of hard work but for the moment I'm really satisfied with everything: A big thanks to everyone in Ducati Corse, they've done an excellent job."

"I was a bit disappointed to see everyone else out on the track but today I was unable to test because I had a massive headache”, declared Carlos Checa. "Hopefully tomorrow I'll be better and I can go out again. In any case, seeing Loris's superb performance makes me feel a lot better and it confirms that we are going to go a long way with the new GP5 project."

Loris Capirossi 2m01.98s