Capirossi Pulls Out Of Sachsenring, Guintoli Steps In

Loris Capirossi's attempt to make an early return from the injuries he sustained during qualifying at Assen have stranded at the first hurdle. The Italian veteran has decided to forgo participation in the German MotoGP round at the Sachsenring, after finding that he was in too much pain at the end of FP1. Capirossi ended the session in last place, just behind LCR Honda's Toni Elias, who crashed twice during the session, but over 1.7 seconds behind the 15th fastest man, Hiroshi Aoyama.

Capirossi's place aboard the Pramac Ducati will be taken by Sylvain Guintoli. The Frenchman tested the Ducati GP11 at Mugello during the post-race test, and despite posting a time over 5 seconds off the pace of the test's fastest rider, Casey Stoner, is here at the Sachsenring ready to step in when needed. That moment has now come, and Guintoli will ride the Pramac Ducati from Friday afternoon's FP2 session onwards.