MotoGP winner Loris Capirossi gets special Suzuki road bike

Former MotoGP racer Loris Capirossi has had five models of Suzuki’s GSX-8R road bike dedicated to him.

Capirossi enjoyed a long grand prix career which began back in 1990 in the 125cc class, in which he was champion consecutively in his first two years.

The Italian won the 1998 250cc title with Aprilia before stepping up to the premier class in 2000 on a Honda, scoring one victory in his maiden campaign.

Capirossi remained on Honda bikes through to the end of 2002, before switching to the factory Ducati squad for its MotoGP debut in 2003 - which also marked his first season on a four-stroke grand prix bike.

He became Ducati’s first MotoGP race winner that year and remained with the squad to the end of 2007, when he joined Suzuki.

Capirossi spent three seasons on the GSV-R to the end of 2010, though managed just one podium in his time before contesting a final year in MotoGP in 2011 with Pramac Racing on a Ducati.

At the recent Turin Motor Show, Suzuki unveiled its Legend Edition Capirossi version of its GSX-8R.

The 82 bhp model, featuring a 776cc liquid cooled parallel twin engine and tubular steel chassis, dedicated to Capirossi is an ultra-limited edition example of five.

“I tried it out for the first time here in the square,” Gazzetta dello Sport reported Capirossi as saying in the Piazza Castello.

“It’s beautiful, very agile and fast.”

On his time with Suzuki in MotoGP, he said: “They were fantastic years of which I have beautiful memories.”

Capirossi maintains a prominent role within the MotoGP paddock as Dorna Sports’ representative in Race Direction.

Earlier this year, the 2003 Ducati GP3 that Capirossi rode to victory in his first season for the Italian marque went up for auction at Silverstone and sold for £201,250.