The season-opener however was a day of mixed emotions as Capirossi’s team mate, Sete Gibernau had to withdraw from the race due to a gear sensor malfunction which affected his bike’s electronics.

With the two riders occupying the front row during the race start, the team had high hopes of a double podium result.

Capirossi led the race from start to finish edging runner-up Team Honda’s Dani Pedrosa by 4.375 seconds and completed a perfect weekend by getting pole position, race win and the fastest lap.

"This is my fourth year with the Ducati MotoGP Team and this is the best start we’ve had to a season. Today’s win was just the best," Capirossi said.

"The team has done a great job all winter, especially at the tests we did here two weeks ago. After that we knew we had a good opportunity to win and after practice and qualifying we were quite confident," he added.

The Spanish GP is Capirossi’s fourth MotoGP success for the Ducati MotoGP Team, his sixth premier class triumph and his 26th career win.