Capirossi ready for four-stroke revenge.

Three-time World Champion Loris Capirossi hits the big 'Three O' at Suzuka on Friday - the day he officially commences his first-ever four-stroke GP season.

The Italian's 30th birthday provides an excellent opportunity to reflect on his career so far, as well as taking a peak into his future.

One of only a handful of riders to have won GPs in three classes - 125, 250 and 500s - Capirossi has been a major-league star since 1990 when he won the 125 world title at his first attempt, aged just 17.

Over the past two seasons he has fought bravely on now uncompetitive 500cc machinery - in 2002 he was one of only two riders capable of running with the four-strokes on his 'old' 500 two-stroke Honda.

After being overlooked by HRC for a RCV ride last year in favour of team-mate Alex Barros, Capirossi's ready for revenge after signing to ride Ducati's awesome new machine alongside WSBK star Troy Bayliss.

Some wondered whether Capirossi would be able to adapt to a four-stroke after a career spent exclusively on two-strokes, but he soon dispelled those doubts, breaking lap records within weeks of his first ride on the Italian V4.

"The four-stroke is great - much more comfortable than the two-stroke, so you can have a lot of fun spinning the rear tyre!" smiled Capirossi, who's never ridden anything as powerful as the 220-plus horsepower Ducati. "The bike is already at a very good level, our lap times from winter testing tell us that, but we have a lot more work to do before we can properly claim to have the best bike. Anyway, it's coming better step by step, and I'm really excited because I think we can fight for some good results from the very first race."

Suzuka is a particularly special event for Capirossi, as he adores the challenging figure-of-eight layout. Capirossi started the 2001 Japanese GP from pole and was second quickest in qualifying last year, even though his 500 had 30 less horsepower than the fastest four-strokes.

"Suzuka is a lovely track, one of the best in the world," he affirmed. "And, of course, it's a very important race for Ducati, like Ferrari in the Suzuka F1 GP! I think it could be good for our bike because it's not the kind of circuit where you get a lot of wheelspin. Everyone can see that we've got a lot of horsepower, so we are working to reduce wheelspin, and we're making good progress with different solutions, both on engine and chassis set-up.

"I don't have any big expectations for the first race," claimed Capirossi. "Much will depend on how the pre-race tests go. If we can fix the set-up during the tests, I think we can have a good race."

Capirossi was eighth fastest at last weekend's IRTA test, after suffering a crash, but despite playing down his chances 'Capirex' - along with Colin Edwards - would doubtless love to beat former employers Honda at HRC's home circuit...