"It was pleasing to finish the test schedule with a good result at Jerez and it shows how far the bike has come on in the winter," Capirossi said. "But now we have to be focused on racing, because we have to keep improving and try to get the best position we can. We want to be on the podium and winning races and I believe that is where we can be.
"Qatar has been a tough track for Suzuki in the past, but the test there earlier this year was quite good and hopefully we can get the season off to a strong start."
Suzuki's new bike did extremely well in off-season testing, with both riders reaching the top five almost on every single track. Capirossi for instance topped the Malaysian testing session on Sepang, ahead of Casey Stoner, Valentino Rossi and Vermeulen. Furthermore, his teammate admitted that snatching a good result in Qatar is fairly important for both the team and the riders and expressed his confidence he'll get at least a top five in the first Grand Prix of the new season.
"Qatar has been a track that we have struggled at in the past, but the new GSV-R seems to be working very well there this year and both Loris and I were well on the pace in the test," he said.
"Hopefully we can stay in the top-five at Qatar, because that is certainly what we are aiming for and if we can it will get the season off to a strong start and give us something to build on throughout the year."
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