When Loris Capirossi clipped Toni Elias with just seven laps to go in the Aragon race, the plucky Italian who will be retiring after 22 seasons in GP racing, went down heavily hitting his already injured right shoulder and now may have to miss at least one of the last four races of his career.
The Italian is also expected to do some laps on every manufacturer’s bike (Ducati and Yamaha have already said yes) as a goodbye gift when the paddock hits Valencia for the final race of the season in November.
Capirossi dislocated his shoulder (the same that needs surgery) and sustained a concussion and a contusion to his elbow.
With this new injury Capirex’s partecipation at Motogi is now in doubt.
“There’s little to say.
I crashed on my ‘famous’ right shoulder and suffered another dislocation as a result.
It hurts a lot, even with the pain-killer I received.
After the Misano race, I wanted to try to at least finish the race, but instead things went like they did.
At this point, my presence in Japan is in serious doubt, but I still hope to recover in time.
” said Capirossi.
Randy de Puniet showed some flashes of brilliant riding this weekend with his Pramac Ducati, but the French rider who was 10th on the starting grid got caught up in Karel Abraham’s big crash on the first lap which left him behind and losing precious time from the rest of the field, even Valentino Rossi who was starting in the pitlane and with a 10 second penalty was able to get past him on the first lap.
“Once again I have to say that I’m disappointed after a race.
I could have been in the top five or six positions, but instead I finished the race in twelfth place,” said de Puniet.
“When Abraham crashed, I couldn’t do anything but go off, and after that I was able to make up a lot of seconds and some positions.
I had almost caught the group in front and was pushing really hard when I made a mistake and lost everything I had gained.
We’re not very fortunate, that’s for sure.
”