Capirossi joins Suzuki

The 34-year-old Italian was known to be furious with his current employers after they announced Marco Melandri's signature for 2008 before informing him and rejected offers from both the d'Antin squad and Kawasaki to take the Suzuki offer.

"I am happy with the five years spent at Ducati because they were exciting seasons and we won some good races together," said Capirossi during the build-up to the Czech Grand Prix at Brno.

"But the moment has come for a change and to try new challenges."

Capirossi's move to join Chris Vermeulen at Suzuki comes at the end of a five-year stint with Ducati, which saw him take their first Moto GP win in Cataluyna in 2003 and rack up five further victories for the Bologna-based manufacturer.

Prior to that he collected a pair of 125cc world titles in 1990 1991, each time on a Honda, and the 250cc championship in 1998 with Aprilia.