Loris Capirossi

Loris Capirossi (born 4 April 1973) is an Italian former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer, currently serving as Safety Advisor to Dorna Sports, the commercial rights holder of Grand Prix motorcycle racing.

Capirossi is a nine-time Premier Class race winner, competing between and . He was the first Grand Prix rider to start at least 300 races, having made his 300th start at the 2010 season-opener Qatar Grand Prix. Capirossi is the and 125cc World Champion, the 250cc World Champion, while also holding the honor of Youngest World Champion in motorcycle racing, winning the 1990 125cc title at 17 years and 165 days old.

Career

125cc World Championship Capirossi made his World Championship debut at 125 cc level in 1990 with the Polini Honda team operated by former world champion Paolo Pileri. He finished in the top six on ten occasions, eight of them on the podium, and took wins in Britain, Hungary and Australia. The massed Italian contingent helped him out by boxing in and thwarting his closest rival Hans Spaan of the Netherlands in the final round, to end a controversial season. In his first full season of Grand Prix racing, Capirossi took his first world championship aged only seventeen years, 5 months and 13 days.

Capirossi's second season (1991) was even better, and saw him defend the 125cc title comfortably. He was only once off the front row of the grid, and had five pole positions, as well as four fastest laps. From thirteen rounds, he was on the podium for twelve, and finished sixth in Austria. He came second five times, and was a winner in Australia, Malaysia, and three European venues. His 225 points, 200 of them counted, were enough to help him move up to the 250cc class. During this second season, Capirosssi and his team were sponsored by AGV Helmets and AGV Sport leathers.

250cc World Championship Capirossi moved up to 250 cc class for the 1992 season on a year-old bike. In 1993 Capirossi made his first win at Netherlands and added another two in San Marino and United States, but finished second and only four points behind Harada. It was the same in 1994, this time with one more win. He finished third at the end of the season behind Max Biaggi and Tadayuki Okada.

500cc World Championship The 1995 season was Capirossi's first season in the top-level 500 cc championship. He was aboard a Pileri Honda, and although he often qualified better than he raced, he still took sixth in the championship. In 1996 Capirossi retired from five of the first seven races, but thereafter he was often in the points and won the final race in Australia riding for Wayne Rainey's Yamaha team.

Return to 250cc Capirossi returned to the 250 cc championship for 1997. While he finished in sixth in his first year with the team, he was much more competitive in the 1998 season. He battled his Aprilia teammate, Tetsuya Harada, for the championship down to the Argentine Grand Prix when the two riders were involved in a controversial incident in Argentina. Harada was leading his teammate for second place behind Valentino Rossi into the final corner of the final lap when Harada's bike was rammed from behind by Capirossi's machine, sending the Japanese rider off the track. Aprilia would release him during the off-season.

Return to 500cc & MotoGP World Championship Capirossi returned to the 500 cc championship for 2000, and remained there through its evolution to the 990 cc and eventually, 800 cc four-stroke MotoGP era. He won at his home race and finished 7th overall, one point behind Carlos Checa. The 2001 season was better than the year before, although without a win during the year. It was also the last season for the 500 cc class, but for the 2002 season, Capirossi found that he would ride inferior bikes from 2001. It was a less competitive year, hampered by a wrist injury in the seventh race of the season when he missed the chicane and turned from the track. As he was not given access to Honda's four-stroke machine in late 2002 when teammate Alex Barros was, he was the highest-ranking rider in the 2002 season standings to use a two-stroke machine all year.

In 2003, Capirossi joined Ducati, taking their first win at Barcelona and fourth overall in the championship, before a slightly disappointing 2004 season on a bike with huge straight line speed but a lack of grip. He stayed in the team for the 2005 season, which saw him become competitive by the end of the year, taking two victories in Japan and Malaysia, aided by improving Bridgestone tyres.

Capirossi and Ducati started the 2006 season with a striking victory at Jerez, and he placed second in both the French and Italian Grands Prix, tying for first in the Moto GP standings with American Nicky Hayden. However, he was caught up in a multiple bike collision at the start in Barcelona, missing the restart and losing championship ground to Hayden. Though he was knocked out in this horrendous looking accident, he did not suffer serious injuries beyond significant bruising. He returned for the next round, but a run of less competitive results saw him slip to fifth in the standings before the race at Brno. He started second, took the lead at the start, and pulled away from the field for an easy victory. He attributed this to a late setup change that the team believed could be applied to the bike at all circuits. He moved up in the championship standings to finish third overall, after taking second at the final race behind stand-in teammate Troy Bayliss.

2007 was not as strong a season for Capirossi. Immediately following the conclusion of the United States Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Ducati announced the signing of Marco Melandri and the extension of Casey Stoner's contract for the 2008 and 2009 seasons. This left Capirossi without a firm position on the Marlboro Ducati team; the possibilities were mooted to be a third position on the factory team, or an option to manage a satellite team. Capirossi was not informed of the decision before the story was released to the press, much to his displeasure.

On 16 August 2007, Capirossi announced that he would ride with the Suzuki factory team in the 2008 and 2009 seasons, alongside Australian Chris Vermeulen.

2008 was a less competitive season due to many weak results during the season. The only podium Capirossi had was in Czech Republic at Brno. In Spain, Capirossi was injured and missed two races. He finished the season in tenth place, his lowest position since 1996. In 2009, his season started with a crash in Qatar when he was in second place. In Italy, Capirossi fought with Stoner for first place but fell to fifth due to his slower Suzuki on the main straight. He finished the season in ninth place without a podium for the first time since 1992. On 11 April 2010, Capirossi became the first rider in the history of the sport to start 300 races, when he finished ninth in the season-opening Qatar Grand Prix. The rest of his campaign was plagued by retirements and injury. For 2011 Capirossi announced that he would ride for the Ducati Pramac Team.

On 11 June 2010, Capirossi rode a Suzuki around the Snaefell Mountain Course on the Isle of Man as part of Suzuki's 50th anniversary at the Isle of Man TT. On completion of his lap, Capirossi described the experience as 'amazing'.

On 1 September 2011, Capirossi announced that he would retire from MotoGP racing, at the end of the 2011 season.

After his retirement, Capirossi's race number, the #65, is unofficially retired from the MotoGP class. On 7 November 2016, during the weeks leading to the 2016 Valencia GP, it was announced that his number had been retired from all classes of Grand Prix motorcycle racing. However, it may be an official retirement of the #65 in the MotoGP class only, as two days later, during the release of the entry list of the 2017 Moto3 season, Moto3 rider Philipp Öttl was listed still using the #65, a number that Öttl had used for his entire career so far.

Personal life Capirossi married Ingrid Tence in August of 2002 and currently the couple resides in Monaco. Their first child, Riccardo Capirossi, was born on 2 April 2007.

In August 2007, the Italian taxation authority announced that Capirossi was under investigation for suspected tax evasion in relation to alleged undeclared earnings of €1.3 million (US$1.77 million) in 2002. The authority also investigated London resident Valentino Rossi. Capirossi's manager Carlo Pernat told the press: "It's absolutely absurd. Loris really lives in Monte Carlo. I don't understand what they can hold against him. He doesn't own anything in Italy."

Capirossi is a member of the 'Champions for Peace' club, a group of more than 90 athletes created by Peace and Sport, a Monaco-based international organization placed under the High Patronage of H.S.H Prince Albert II. The group's stated aim is to make sport a tool for dialogue and social cohesion.

Books and movies Capirossi's biography was published in 2017 by the publisher company Sperling & Kupfer under the title "65 – la mia vita senza paura (65 – my life without fear)". The book was written with the Italian writer Simone Sarasso and was published in Italy only.

Several key moments of Capirossi's career are also described in the book "Belìn che paddock" by MotoGP manager Carlo Pernat, who managed Capirossi for several years.

Capirossi's first year in the 125 GP Italian championship is told by himself and his former mechanic Guido Mancini in the first part of the documentary film Mancini, the Motorcycle Wizard, by director Jeffrey Zani. Capirossi was also interviewed for the MotoGP documentary Faster by Mark Neale.

Career statistics

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

By season SeasonClassMotorcycleTeamNumberRaceWinPodiumPoleFLapPtsPlcdWCh 1990 125cc Honda RS125 Polini Honda 65 14 3 8 0 0 182 1st 1 1991 125cc Honda RS125 Polini Honda 1 13 5 12 5 4 200 1st 1 1992 250cc Honda NSR250 Marlboro Honda 6 13 0 0 0 0 27 12th – 1993 250cc Honda NSR250 Marlboro Honda 65 14 3 7 7 5 193 2nd – 1994 250cc Honda NSR250 Marlboro Honda 2 14 4 9 5 5 199 3rd – 1995 500cc Honda NSR500 Team Pileri 65 12 0 1 0 0 108 6th – 1996 500cc Yamaha YZR500 Rainey-Yamaha 65 15 1 2 0 0 98 10th – 1997 250cc Aprilia RS250 Aprilia Racing Team 65 14 0 3 1 2 116 6th – 1998 250cc Aprilia RS250 Aprilia Racing Team 65 14 2 9 8 3 224 1st 1 1999 250cc Honda NSR250 Elf Axo Honda Gresini 1 15 3 9 2 3 209 3rd – 2000 500cc Honda NSR500 Emerson Honda Pons 65 16 1 4 1 1 154 7th – 2001 500cc Honda NSR500 West Honda Pons 65 16 0 9 4 1 210 3rd – 2002 MotoGP Honda NSR500 West Honda Pons 65 14 0 2 0 0 109 8th – 2003 MotoGP Ducati GP3 Ducati Marlboro Team 65 16 1 6 3 1 177 4th – 2004 MotoGP Ducati GP4 Ducati Marlboro Team 65 16 0 1 0 1 117 9th – 2005 MotoGP Ducati GP5 Ducati Marlboro Team 65 15 2 4 3 1 157 6th – 2006 MotoGP Ducati GP6 Ducati Marlboro Team 65 17 3 8 2 5 229 3rd – 2007 MotoGP Ducati GP7 Ducati Marlboro Team 65 18 1 4 0 0 166 7th – 2008 MotoGP Suzuki GSV-R Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 65 16 0 1 0 0 118 10th – 2009 MotoGP Suzuki GSV-R Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 65 17 0 0 0 0 110 9th – 2010 MotoGP Suzuki GSV-R Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 65 16 0 0 0 0 44 16th – 2011 MotoGP Ducati GP11 Pramac Racing Team 65, 58 13 0 0 0 0 43 17th – Total 328 29 99 41 32 3190 3

By class

Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Class Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Pts 1990 125cc Honda JPN6 SPA7 NAT3 GER3 AUT2 YUG2 NEDRet BEL2 FRA4 GBR1 SWE7 CZERet HUN1 AUS1 1st 182 1991 125cc Honda JPN3 AUS1 SPA3 ITA2 GER2 AUT6 EUR1 NED2 FRA1 GBR1 RSM2 CZE2 MAL1 1st 200 1992 250cc Honda JPN9 AUSRet MAL9 SPA11 ITA9 EURRet GER9 NED8 HUNRet FRARet GBR7 BRA7 RSA5 12th 27 1993 250cc Honda AUSRet MAL12 JPN10 SPA10 AUT2 GER2 NED1 EURRet RSM1 GBR2 CZE5 ITA2 USA1 FIM5 2nd 193 1994 250cc Honda AUS3 MAL3 JPN2 SPARet AUT1 GER1 NEDRet ITA3 FRA1 GBR1 CZERet USARet ARG5 EUR2 3rd 199 1995 500cc Honda AUS8 MALRet JPNRet SPA6 GER6 ITA9 NED4 FRADNS GBR4 CZE4 BRA9 ARG5 EUR3 6th 108 1996 500cc Yamaha MALRet INA3 JPNRet SPA4 ITARet FRARet NEDRet GER12 GBR6 AUT8 CZE5 IMORet CAT9 BRA12 AUS1 10th 98 1997 250cc Aprilia MALRet JPN11 SPARet ITA3 AUT4 FRA4 NED3 IMORet GER5 BRA4 GBR3 CZERet CAT5 INA14 AUSDNS 6th 116 1998 250cc Aprilia JPN9 MAL5 SPA1 ITA4 FRA3 MAD3 NEDRet GBR1 GER4 CZE2 IMO2 CAT3 AUS2 ARG2 1st 224 1999 250cc Honda MAL1 JPN3 SPA3 FRARet ITADSQ CAT NED1 GBR2 GER2 CZE7 IMO1 VAL3 AUS6 RSA5 BRA3 ARGRet 3rd 209 2000 500cc Honda RSA3 MALRet JPN12 SPA6 FRA8 ITA1 CAT6 NED3 GBR4 GER6 CZE5 POR13 VALRet BRARet PAC8 AUS2 7th 154 2001 500cc Honda JPN8 RSA2 SPA8 FRA7 ITA2 CAT3 NED3 GBR10 GER8 CZE3 POR2 VALRet PAC3 AUS3 MAL2 BRA5 3rd 210 2002 MotoGP Honda JPN9 RSA3 SPA4 FRA7 ITA6 CAT6 NEDRet GBR GER CZE6 PORRet BRA5 PAC3 MAL9 AUSRet VALRet 8th 109 2003 MotoGP Ducati JPN3 RSARet SPARet FRARet ITA2 CAT1 NED6 GBR4 GER4 CZERet POR3 BRA6 PAC8 MAL6 AUS2 VAL3 4th 177 2004 MotoGP Ducati RSA6 SPA12 FRA10 ITA8 CAT10 NED8 BRA4 GERRet GBR7 CZE5 POR7 JPNRet QATRet MAL6 AUS3 VAL9 9th 117 2005 MotoGP Ducati SPA13 POR9 CHN12 FRA7 ITA3 CAT12 NED10 USA10 GBR6 GER9 CZE2 JPN1 MAL1 QAT10 AUS TUR VAL7 6th 157 2006 MotoGP Ducati SPA1 QAT3 TUR6 CHN8 FRA2 ITA2 CATRet NED15 GBR9 GER5 USA8 CZE1 MAL2 AUS7 JPN1 POR12 VAL2 3rd 229 2007 MotoGP Ducati QATRet SPA12 TUR3 CHN6 FRA8 ITA7 CAT6 GBRRet NEDRet GER2 USARet CZE6 RSM5 POR9 JPN1 AUS2 MAL11 VAL5 7th 166 2008 MotoGP Suzuki QAT8 SPA5 POR9 CHN9 FRA7 ITA7 CATRet GBR NEDWD GER7 USA15 CZE3 RSM7 INP16 JPN6 AUS10 MAL7 VAL9 10th 118 2009 MotoGP Suzuki QATRet JPN7 SPA6 FRA8 ITA5 CAT5 NED9 USARet GER11 GBR11 CZE5 INP7 RSM5 PORRet AUS12 MAL9 VAL 14 9th 110 2010 MotoGP Suzuki QAT9 SPARet FRARet ITA10 GBRRet NED13 CAT7 GER11 USA10 CZERet INP11 RSMRet ARA JPNRet MALRet AUSDNS POR13 VALRet 16th 44 2011 MotoGP Ducati QATRet SPA11 POR12 FRARet CAT9 GBR10 NEDDNS ITA GER USA12 CZE13 INPRet RSMRet ARARet JPN AUS9 MALC VAL9 17th 43