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.

He is a 9-time Premier Class race winner, competing between and.

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.

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.

His 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.

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.

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 6th 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.

Capirossi returned to the 250 cc championship for 1997.

He battled his Aprilia teammate, Tetsuya Harada down to the final race of the 1998 season when the two riders were involved in a controversial incident in Argentina.

Harada was leading the race 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.

Valentino Rossi took the victory whilst Capirossi recovered to claim second place and the world championship.

Aprilia would release him during the off-season.

He moved to Honda for the 1999 season, taking third in the championship with three victories.

He was involved in further controversy in the 1999 season, being black flagged at Mugello for dangerous riding after being involved in an incident with Marcellino Lucchi at the start of the race, as well as passing under yellow flags.

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.

Also it was 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.

He was not given access to Honda's four-stroke machine in late 2002 when teammate Alex Barros was, as he was already to leave the team.

In 2003 he 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 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.