DE PUNIET FLIES TO THE TOP OF THE TIME SHEET
Typically hot, humid weather greeted the arrival of the MotoGP
paddock to Sepang as the first practice sessions of the Malaysian
Grand Prix took place today at the 5.55km circuit, near Kuala
Lumpur.
The Kawasaki Racing Team's resident French speed demon, Randy
de Puniet, launched himself in to the spirit of things straight
away, with an impressive performance in the morning session,
resulting in his coming fifth fastest on the time sheets.
However, his efforts in the afternoon saw the 26-year-old
taking his 800cc ZX-RR to the top of the leader boards, finishing
the day with a best time of 2'02.917 after 17 laps. De Puniet
claimed the lead just over half way in to the hour-long session
and even this year's new world champion, Casey Stoner, whilst
able to close in, had to settle for second, unable to catch
up.
Only four riders were able to come within a second of de
Puniet's time and his team mate, Anthony West, having a similarly
good day at Sepang, was one of them. He ended the second practice
in fifth place, with a best run of 2'03.825.
It seems that his earlier concerns at not knowing the circuit
as well as the rest of the MotoGP field, who practice here
during winter (West only joined MotoGP in June), may be unfounded.
With only Stoner, Marco Melandri and Dani Pedrosa separating
the 26-year-old Australian and his fellow Ninja rider, West
showed today he's more than capable of running with or, indeed,
faster than, many more experienced premier class pilots.
With both Kawasakis looking so strong, and their Bridgestone
tyres offering plenty of reassuring grip on the newly-resurfaced
track, the weekend has got off to an excellent start for the
squad, who hope to continue in this vein during tomorrow's
practice and qualifying sessions and on into Sunday's 21-lap
race.
Randy De Puniet
#14 - 1st - Best Lap 2'02.917
"During the first part of the practice session the track
conditions weren't so easy, which is why I stayed in the pits,
but I went out on track after about 20 minutes. The surface
was becoming dry and I feel I did a good job. I tried a hard
compound race tyre, which gave me a really good feeling, so
I'm pleased with that, and I did some really good, consistent
lap times so it's not been such a bad day! I think we can
improve the bike a little bit for tomorrow but I think, for
the first day, we've not done badly."
Anthony West
#13 - 5th - Best Lap 2'03.825
"It was my first time here on this bike and I'm really
pleased with the way it went today. The track's okay but there
are some slippery areas which never seem to completely dry
out and, while grip's not perfect, it should get better over
the weekend when the surface gets some more rubber laid down
on it. However, my tyres have been feeling pretty good. At
Phillip Island, I had a lot of problems with the rear but
today I had loads more grip, so things have already improved
and hopefully we can keep getting better tomorrow."
Christophe Bourguignon
De Puniet's Crew Chief
"Conditions this morning meant the new surface was really
slippery so we couldn't really set up our machine. The lap
times were really slow and we decided not to touch the bike
during lunchtime, keeping the morning set up to see what it
would do when it was drier. At the beginning of the afternoon
session, the track was still not completely dry so we decided
that Randy would stay in for the first 20 minutes. The weather
is due to be bad tomorrow so we planned for him to do just
two, long runs on two different-spec race tyres, so we could
get a thorough evaluation of them. Obviously we will slightly
adjust the set up: the mapping, engine braking and suspension,
but it looks like both Randy and the bike are at a good level
after only one day."
1. Randy De Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki Racing Team 2'02.917; 2.
Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team +0.011; 3. Marco Melandri
(ITA) Honda Gresini +0.744; 4. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda
Team +0.850; 5. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing Team +0.908;
6. Toni Elias (SPA) Honda Gresini +1.114; 7. Sylvain Guintoli
(FRA) Tech 3 Yamaha +1.177; 8. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla
Suzuki MotoGP +1.538; 9. John Hopkins (USA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
+1.577; 10. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team +1.835
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