SECOND ROW FOR DE PUNIET IN SPAIN
Qualifying practice for the final Grand Prix of the year
took place at Valencia today, with Kawasaki's Randy de Puniet
and Anthony West claiming fourth and 16th positions on tomorrow's
grid, respectively.
De Puniet's impressive second row spot was secured by his
best time of 1'31.963, with the Frenchman missing out on a
front row start by a mere 0.060 to Nicky Hayden. Furthermore,
he is less than half a second off pole position man, Dani
Pedrosa, and he set the fastest time of the day, at 300.8kmh.
After two days' worth of practice and preparation, and having
found an excellent Bridgestone tyre combination in the process,
he is confident he can put in a good performance tomorrow:
his race set up giving him the confidence to consistently
display superb lap times even without the benefits of a qualifying
tyre. Lapping in the low, one minute, 33-second region, it
all bodes well for Sunday's event.
Anthony West, meanwhile, has continued to improve his times
throughout the weekend, and today recorded a stunning, fourth-fastest,
top speed of 296.9kmh, but remains uneasy after a disappointing
session. Having struggled with grip on Friday, the 26-year-old
Australian succumbed to the gravel today in a lowside at turn
two but, undeterred, made his way back to pit lane to continue
on his second bike.
He was not the only one who suffered in a session which saw
a number of riders getting out of shape, including seven times
world champion, Valentino Rossi. However, West will tomorrow
grit his teeth and give it his all when the race begins. Slow
progress for the 26-year-old during practice sessions has,
in the past, failed to deter him from the task of taking his
800cc Ninja ZX-RR around any track with the utmost determination.
All in all, it looks as if tomorrow's 30-lap race at the
4km Ricardo Tormo circuit will be a heated affair, with the
front ten qualifiers recording times within a second of Pedrosa.
What's more, judging by the large amount of spectators present
around the track already, and with a Spaniard on pole, it's
going to be an atmospheric one at that.
Randy de Puniet
#14 - 4th - Best Lap 1'31.963
"I was hoping for the first row for my last race for
Kawasaki but still, my position is pretty good because it's
very difficult to overtake here. We've improved the race set
up hugely on the bike today and I managed to do good, consistent
times during the sessions. I had a big slide on my final qualifier,
just before I had to brake for a corner, so I lost a couple
of tenths and, because of that, narrowly missed out on the
front row. I hope to continue to improve during tomorrow's
warm up but I'm feeling really good."
Anthony West
#13 - 16th - Best Lap 1'33.231
"I haven't been able to find my pace so far and have
struggled a bit to find a good set up for tomorrow. I thought
I'd show more improvement today than I have but I'm finding
it harder at Valencia on the MotoGP bike than on the smaller
capacity machines I've ridden here. I'm more angry than injured
after my small crash, and I don't have the same confidence
I had in, say, Sepang, but now I will look towards the race
and do everything I can to do my best."
Christophe Bourguignon
De Puniet's Crew Chief
"At the beginning of the afternoon, we evaluated the
race tyre choices for tomorrow and I think we've found a good
option for us to use. Randy managed to do some fast times
on that race tyre which means he'll be able to run at a good
pace on Sunday. Our goal today was to be on the front row
but Randy missed out by such a small margin; I'm really pleased
with the way he's been riding today and during the weekend
as a whole. He suffered quite a bit of movement on the bike
but it got a lot better when the track temperature rose this
afternoon and, if it's like this tomorrow, I think we can
expect a good result in the race."
1. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team 1'31.517; 2. Casey
Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team +0.086; 3. Nicky Hayden
(USA) Repsol Honda Team +0.386; 4. Randy De Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki
Racing Team +0.446; 5. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Tech 3 Yamaha
+0.557; 6. Makoto Tamada (JPN) Tech 3 Yamaha +0.634; 7. John
Hopkins (USA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP +0.648; 8. Loris Capirossi
(ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team +0.744; 9. Carlos Checa (SPA) Honda
LCR +0.756; 10. Marco Melandri (ITA) Honda Gresini +0.850;
16. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing Team +1.714
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