Ducati design 'Capirossi bike' for Mugello.

Having struggled to adapt to the new 800cc Desmosedici anywhere near as well as world championship leading team-mate Casey Stoner, Ducati has designed a 'new package' for Loris Capirossi in time for his home Italian Grand Prix.

While Stoner has stormed to three wins and four podiums from the first five races of 2007, Capirossi has broken the top three only once and currently sits seventh in the standings.

But if Capirossi can re-launch his season anywhere, it is Mugello - a circuit where he has delighted Ducati and Italy alike by putting the 'old' 990cc Desmosedici on the podium three times from the last four starts.

"Mugello is my home race and Ducati's home race, so it's a really big weekend for all of us," admitted Capirossi. "In fact it's a big event for all the Italian riders, last year Valentino [Rossi] and I had a great battle for the win. The Mugello crowd is very enthusiastic, there's always an amazing atmosphere. I love the track, it's got some fantastic corners and some really interesting up and down sections, so it's a lot of fun to ride and I usually have good races there. The circuit character should suit our bike well, even if my feeling with the machine isn't 100 per cent at the moment. Ducati are working closely with me to refine the bike to suit my style because I am eager to get back on the pace and race up front again. Above all I'm convinced that we do have the potential to come back strong, we just need to stay focused and do our best at this race and at the following races."

The Italian has been openly asking Ducati for help in returning to the front and will get it this weekend, when a revised GP7 built around his riding characteristics will be available for both he and Stoner to try.

"Mugello seems to suit our bike, and it is also one of Loris' favourite tracks, where he has always been very competitive. So, having listened to his feedback and analysed his data, we have prepared a new package to help him fight for the kind of results he's accustomed to achieving," confirmed Ducati Corse Director Filippo Preziosi. "These changes aim to modify the GP7's power delivery to offer rideability that's better suited to Lori's riding style. The changes include electronics - revised engine mapping and ride-by-wire set-up - and mechanics - revised cam timing and fluid-dynamics. The same package will also be available for Casey if he wants to try it."

Stoner will be competing in only his second Italian MotoGP - and first as a Ducati rider - and will start a race tipped to become a Valentino vs. Ducati duel 21 points ahead of Rossi.

"Mugello is one of my favourite tracks. We've had some pretty good results there, including my first-ever pole position and I've made the podium in 125s. I think the bike is going to be really strong, the track's got a nice main straight which helps and some nice fast and flowing corners which the Ducati should like, so we should be able to do all right," said a relaxed Stoner. "It would be a nice one to win but it's going to be really tough work beating Loris and the rest of the Italian riders. But I feel we're fast enough, the Ducati and the Bridgestones are going really well and if we can find the right settings we'll be there. At Mugello you need a bike that changes direction good because there's a lot of high-speed direction changes and the faster you go, the harder it is to change direction. You need a pinpoint accurate bike because you've got to hit the right points at the right time, and if you don't do that you lose a lot of time, that's what makes this track so hard."

First practice at Mugello takes place on Friday morning.