HARD FOUGHT FOURTH FOR DE PUNIET AT SEPANG
Randy de Puniet gave his team something to celebrate today
when he rode to a spectacular fourth position in the Malaysian
Grand Prix at Sepang. However, in an unfortunate turn of events,
Anthony West made an error on the starting grid that cost
him a potential MotoGP career-best result.
Frenchman de Puniet shot off from fourth on the line as the
race began, showing brilliant progress in an area which has
vexed him in the past, and clinched third place from Marco
Melandri in turn one. A leading group of Casey Stoner, Dani
Pedrosa, de Puniet and Melandri quickly formed, with the Kawasaki
number 14 pilot maintaining third until the Italian overtook
him on lap five. But he never let up throughout the race and,
whilst riding his 800cc Ninja ZX-RR to the maximum, held his
position, eventually landing himself 13 championship points
and taking 11th position in the current standings.
A delighted de Puniet came home to an uproarious reception
from his crew after a weekend which has seen him relentlessly
topping the timesheets and consistently displaying both talent
and courage on the 4.55km circuit. Bike, rider and Bridgestones
shone for the entire, 21-lap race.
Fortune did not smile, however, on Anthony West. Upon lining
up for the start, the 26-year-old Australian placed himself
on a 250cc grid position, marked on the track adjacent to
the MotoGP spot. This was officially flagged as a jump start
and he was given a ride-through penalty, which he fulfilled
at the end of lap five, surrendering a very-promising fifth
place in the process.
It was a heartbreaking turn of events for West, after he
had clocked spectacular times throughout the weekend and qualified
in a personal best fifth position on the grid. He re-joined
the race in 20th place but, in typical West fashion, other
riders were overtaken and he finally finished 15th, miraculously
maintaining his run of scoring points at every round since
he began racing in MotoGP in June.
The team now leave Malaysia and head back for Europe, where
the final round of the MotoGP World Championship will take
place at Valencia in two weeks' time.
Randy de Puniet
#14 - 4th position
"I’m very happy, it was a good race. For the first
time in 17 rounds, I managed a good start and then I took
Melandri by the first corner, holding third for a few laps.
After that he passed me and I tried to stay with the leading
group. I did make some small mistakes during the race but
the gap between me and the others didn't change and towards
the end I got within less than a second of Pedrosa. But then
I had a few problems with stability under braking and decided
to hold my place rather than push too hard and take any risks.
The bike worked very well today and I'm so happy with this
result."
Anthony West
#13 - 15th position
"When I saw the ride through penalty on my pit board,
I didn't know what it was for as I knew I hadn't jumped the
start. I didn't know exactly what was wrong until I came back
in at the end of the race. I made up a few places, even though
I felt pretty flat after the ride through. I was really frustrated
but then I saw I was catching up with some guys and kept on
fighting although, to be honest, I didn't feel completely
motivated and I'm sure that'll be reflected in my lap times.
The weekend had been so fantastic before this so I'm gutted.
I'll have to come back and take my revenge on Sepang next
year."
Michael Bartholemy
Kawasaki Competition Manager
"This weekend has been amazing. We've had some great
results over all three days, which is particularly pleasing
because we had many problems when we debuted the 800cc machine
during testing here at Sepang just 12 months ago. Somehow,
this weekend has been pay back for us. We've seen the real
potential of the bike, we've been in the top five all weekend,
Randy finished in the top five and yes, Anthony made a mistake
but, if that hadn't happened, I'm sure he could have finished
sixth at least. Ultimately, the team and riders have shown
what a competitive package we have now at Kawasaki."
1. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team 43'04.405; 2. Marco
Melandri (ITA) Honda Gresini +1.701; 3. Dani Pedrosa (SPA)
Repsol Honda Team +2.326; 4. Randy De Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki
Racing Team +3.765; 5. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha Factory
Racing +4.773; 6. Toni Elias (SPA) Honda Gresini +17.667;
7. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP +20.950; 8. John
Hopkins (USA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP +22.198; 9. Nicky Hayden
(USA) Repsol Honda Team +22.450; 10. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha
Factory Racing +29.746; 15. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing
Team +49.658
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