Loris Capirossi

Read about Loris Capirossi, including career highlights, pictures and news of the road racer right here at Motorcycle USA.

One of the great Italian riders to grace the GP scene is Loris Capirossi, who has been winning races and championships since a teenager. He won the 125cc World Championship at age 17 - the youngest rider to ever claim a world title at that time.

In 1995 he moved into the 500cc Grand Prix World Championship with Pileri Honda. After struggling for a year he won a race in 1996 for Wayne Rainey's Yamaha team. Capirossi then returned to the 250cc championship to race for Aprilia in 1997. The 1998 season saw him win the 250cc series, however Capirossi was let go by Aprilia during the off-season after controversially ramming his own teammate, Tetsuya Harada, during the final race in Argentina. He was taken up by Honda and finished third overall in the '99 championship, which included being black flagged for dangerous riding at Mugello.

In 2000, Capirossi returned to the 500cc world championship and stayed there through its evolution into the 800cc MotoGP. In 2003 he jumped ship from Honda to Ducati, earning Ducati's its first win at Barcelona and fourth overall before a slightly disappointing 2004 season. Most of 2005 was spent adjusting to the bike and new Bridgestone tires, which would pay off in 2006 when Capirossi scored third in the MotoGP series. The fact that Capirex did well was underscored by the fact that many of his results were earned while riding injured from the infamous first-turn incident at Catalunya. Despite being mangled from the crash, the lion-hearted Capirossi kept racing.

2007 was not a strong season for Capirossi. Ducati soon afterward announced the signing of Marco Melandri and the extension of Casey Stoner's contract, leaving Capirossi's position uncertain. On August 16, 2007 Capirossi announced that he was parting ways with Ducati to campaign alongside Chris Vermeulen aboard the Rizla Suzuki GSV-R.

His ninth consecutive year in the premier series was filled with highs and lows, and ultimately the 36-year-old's hope for a 100th career podium-finish remained out of reach. 2010 was Capirossi's worst year in terms of results. The Italian finished 16th in the end, and it was the first time he finished outside the top-10 in the premier class. Furthermore, Capirossi suffered a groin injury near the end of the season which affected his performance.

For 2011 the Italian will be moving back to Ducati with the Pramac Ducati team. Competing in his 21st year at the Grand Prix level, Capirossi will race the Desmosedici he helped originally develop back in 2007.