The massed Italian contingent helped him out by boxing in and thwarting his closest rival Hans Spaan of the Netherlands in the final round, to end a controversial season.

In his first full season of Grand Prix racing, Capirossi took his first world championship aged only seventeen years, 5 months and 13 days.

In 1993 Capirossi made his first win at Netherlands and added another two in San Marino and United States, but finished second and only four points behind Harada.

He battled his Aprilia teammate, Tetsuya Harada, for the championship down to the Argentine Grand Prix when the two riders were involved in a controversial incident in Argentina.

It was a less competitive year, hampered by a wrist injury in the seventh race of the season when he missed the chicane and turned from the track.

In 2003 he joined Ducati, taking their first win at Barcelona[7] and fourth overall in the championship, before a slightly disappointing 2004 season on a bike with huge straight line speed but a lack of grip.

He stayed in the team for the 2005 season, which saw him become competitive by the end of the year, taking two victories in Japan[8] and Malaysia,[9] aided by improving Bridgestone tyres.

Capirossi and Ducati started the 2006 season with a striking victory at Jerez, and he placed second in both the French and Italian Grands Prix, tying for first in the Moto GP standings with American Nicky Hayden.

However, he was caught up in a multiple bike collision at the start in Barcelona, missing the restart and losing championship ground to Hayden.

He moved up in the championship standings to finish third overall, after taking second at the final race behind stand-in teammate Troy Bayliss.

Immediately following the conclusion of the United States Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Ducati announced the signing of Marco Melandri and the extension of Casey Stoner's contract for the 2008 and 2009 seasons.

[12] On 16 August 2007, Capirossi announced that he would ride with the Suzuki factory team in the 2008 and 2009 seasons, alongside Australian Chris Vermeulen.

In Italy, Capirossi fought with Stoner for first place but fell to fifth due to his slower Suzuki on the main straight.

On 11 April 2010, Capirossi became the first rider in the history of the sport to start 300 races, when he finished ninth in the season-opening Qatar Grand Prix.

On 7 November 2016, during the weeks leading to the 2016 Valencia GP, it was announced that his number had been retired from all classes of Grand Prix motorcycle racing.

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap) 1949  B. Ruffo 1950  D. Ambrosini 1951  B. Ruffo 1952  E. Lorenzetti 1953  W. Haas 1954  W. Haas 1955  H. Müller 1956  C. Ubbiali 1957  C. Sandford 1958  T. Provini 1959  C. Ubbiali 1960  C. Ubbiali 1961  M. Hailwood 1962  J. Redman 1963  J. Redman 1964  P. Read 1965  P. Read 1966  M. Hailwood 1967  M. Hailwood 1968  P. Read 1969  K. Carruthers 1970  R. Gould 1971  P. Read 1972  J. Saarinen 1973  D. Braun 1974  W. Villa 1975  W. Villa 1976  W. Villa 1977  M. Lega 1978  K. Ballington 1979  K. Ballington 1980  A. Mang 1981  A. Mang 1982  J. Tournadre 1983  C. Lavado 1984  C. Sarron 1985  F. Spencer 1986  C. Lavado 1987  A. Mang 1988  S. Pons 1989  S. Pons 1990  J. Kocinski 1991  L. Cadalora 1992  L. Cadalora 1993  T. Harada 1994  M. Biaggi 1995  M. Biaggi 1996  M. Biaggi 1997  M. Biaggi 1998  L. Capirossi 1999  V. Rossi 2000  O. Jacque 2001  D. Kato 2002  M. Melandri 2003  M. Poggiali 2004  D. Pedrosa 2005  D. Pedrosa 2006  J. Lorenzo 2007  J. Lorenzo 2008  M. Simoncelli 2009  H. Aoyama 2010  T. Elías 2011  S. Bradl 2012  M. Márquez 2013  P. Espargaró 2014  T. Rabat 2015  J. Zarco 2016  J. Zarco 2017  F. Morbidelli 2018  F. Bagnaia 2019  Á. Márquez 2020  E. Bastianini 2021  R. Gardner 2022  A. Fernández 2023  P. Acosta 2024  A. Ogura 1949  N. Pagani 1950  B. Ruffo 1951  C. Ubbiali 1952  C. Sandford 1953  W. Haas 1954  R. Hollaus 1955  C. Ubbiali 1956  C. Ubbiali 1957  T. Provini 1958  C. Ubbiali 1959  C. Ubbiali 1960  C. Ubbiali 1961  T. Phillis 1962  L. Taveri 1963  H. Anderson 1964  L. Taveri 1965  H. Anderson 1966  L. Taveri 1967  B. Ivy 1968  P. Read 1969  D. Simmonds 1970  D. Braun 1971  Á. Nieto 1972  Á. Nieto 1973  K. Andersson 1974  K. Andersson 1975  P. Pileri 1976  P. Bianchi 1977  P. Bianchi 1978  E. Lazzarini 1979  Á. Nieto 1980  P. Bianchi 1981  Á. Nieto 1982  Á. Nieto 1983  Á. Nieto 1984  Á. Nieto 1985  F. Gresini 1986  L. Cadalora 1987  F. Gresini 1988  J. Martínez 1989  À. Crivillé 1990  L. Capirossi 1991  L. Capirossi 1992  A. Gramigni 1993  D. Raudies 1994  K. Sakata 1995  H. Aoki 1996  H. Aoki 1997  V. Rossi 1998  K. Sakata 1999  E. Alzamora 2000  R. Locatelli 2001  M. Poggiali 2002  A. Vincent 2003  D. Pedrosa 2004  A. Dovizioso 2005  T. Lüthi 2006  Á. Bautista 2007  G. Talmácsi 2008  M. Di Meglio 2009  J. Simón 2010  M. Márquez 2011  N. Terol 2012  S. Cortese 2013  M. Viñales 2014  Á. Márquez 2015  D. Kent 2016  B. Binder 2017  J. Mir 2018  J. Martín 2019  L. Dalla Porta 2020  A. Arenas 2021  P. Acosta 2022  I. Guevara 2023  J. Masià 2024  D. Alonso